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About 2:45 on Saturday, numerous pilots were seated in the amphitheater at Ellings Park with a view of Santa Barbara beach behind the stage set up for Aaron and Alison's wedding. Someone spotted a paraglider descending to land and speculation varied. Dean showed up an hour later to confirm our suspicion that someone had flown in from Pine Mountain. I was hoping for a repeat on Sunday. I love the flight to the beach from Pine, and Sharon said she wanted to fly the route. Diablo and South Side called at 7 am on their way to Plowshare with Carolyn. I was checking the weather and posted a 9:30 meet for NHS because that was the earliest Edward was available. Numerous pilots had camped up top, so the logistics were scattered. Left Sharon's car in Ventura and loaded in with Daren and Ron Meyer. Another stop at NHS and again at the Sand Pile. Edward boosted 11 pilots in 2 vehicles up to launch. We met up with Diablo on the Pine Mountain Road (they opted to pass on Plowshares after evaluating conditions on launch), so we off loaded a couple of pilots into Tony's truck. The SB HG crew was on launch setting up when we got there. Clouds were just starting to build when we left the Sand Pile. It was already soarable as we arrived at takeoff a little after 11. Calm on top of the ridge crest, with good cycles on launch. Our gear was a little scattered, and we fumbled with the radio and vario. I was anxious to get airborne and avoid going into overheat. Finally got off at 11:30. Fished around a bit and finally found something to climb in behind the knob. Got to cloudbase about 12K and followed the street east past Reyes and Haddock. It looked like we might be able to take a line toward Mutau Flat, but the seam shifted north and we were on the wrong side. Turned 45 degrees and headed OTB, but didn't have enough altitude to make Grade Valley. Went as far as we dared, reaching for a cloud just out of reach, hoping to get lucky and avoid a backtrack. Didn't get to any up air so we opted to abort and run back for the south side of the range and try again. Came into Haddock from the east about even and got back up. The Chute behind Haddock worked. Bo and Dean came over to join the party and we all headed toward Guillermo from cloudbase with about 12K. My vario went dead on the climb at Haddock, it had been iffy before launch, probably batteries, but I was antsy to get airborne and Sharon had hers for a backup. Peeked over her shoulder for awhile, but finally got it jury rigged on the spreader bar. Lockwood was looking dark and getting darker. We aborted our initial OTB attempt because we got caught too far south, but now it looked like we might be too far north. The best line for sun may have been over the south end of Grade Valley, but we opted to try our luck toward Guillermo. Dry canyon was blue and dry. Found a nice thermal on the edge of the shade a little south of Guillermo. Bo and Dean took notice right away and headed our way. Got up again in the shade over the northern edge of Grade Valley as Diablo cruised underneath. There was a jagged broken sun line about half way between Lockwood and Mutau. Lockwood was completely dark and getting thicker, and I wasn't confident it would work so deep in the cold shade, but some of the pilots took the line to Frazier and got through. We opted to bypass Lockwood to the south and skirt the jagged sun line. We headed toward Hungry Valley, passing well south of Frazier Mountain. Cloudbase was about 12K, but we fuzzed up to 13ish a few times on long buoyant dolphin glide. It was tempting to go for big altitude and run for I-5, but I didn't like the wet air and the prospect of airline traffic above contributed to our incentive to stay lower. We were about half way between Frazier Mountain and Alamo Mountain at cloudbase, but it was blue over Hungry Valley, and a long way to I-5. We were encountering a light headwind feeding Lockwood. Our glide was less than desirable. We weren't going to make I-5. I opted to turn right and play for the clouds over Alamo Mountain, but aborted a mile short because if we didn't connect, retrieval was questionable. Eastbound again and on course for the middle Hungry Valley. Down to about 6K, maybe a thousand AGL just west of Hungry Valley when we felt a draw from the SE. Faded right and found some scraps that got better with altitude. It was drifting us back toward the west, but the climb trajectory was worth giving ground. Clouds started forming overhead, and we stepped upwind into better cores. Got back to base at 12K. Considered turning around for an out and return, but it was pretty dark behind us by now, and booster junction looked promising with scrappy clouds and haze domes, so we pressed on upwind to the east. Got up near the 5, and again closer to Quail Lake, but only to about 10 or 11K. Couldn't quite reach cloudbase. There was a cloud and haze dome in the middle of the valley, off the northern tip of the round alfalfa fields so we angled NE on glide. The cloud disappeared and the haze dome flattened out. We could see new clouds and haze domes off to our southeast over the south side of the valley, so we adjusted course and got to the action with about a thousand AGL. There was a line of dust devils along the convergence under broken clouds. The clouds were getting better and we got back to 10ish. Bobbed along to the east, but couldn't reach cloudbase. The cloud street went a few miles further east, toward the Fairmount Buttes, and then turn 70 degrees to the left across the valley. Our plan was to work a little further east and then angle NE on the west side of the street. Paragliders are so slow that when you fly in big air at high altitude, the conditions often change on glide. On long glides, what you are reaching for will often shift by the time you get to your target position. The building SW wind through Portal Ridge seemed to pick up and clip off the corner of the cloud street. We were caught on the wrong side again, too far east. Started stepping back upwind to the west and finally pealed off to the NE with ten plus. The corner of the previously connected cloud streets continued to erode resulting in the dissipation of the southern edge of the bridge across the valley. We were west of the dissipating clouds on the bridge, but the line seemed to be shifting further to the west. We incrementally adjusted our apparent heading until we were pointed straight north, but our track was to the NE. We reached a good stable cloud, but with it shifting west, and our crab angle to the east, we ended up on the east side. Had to keep dolpining up wind to extend into the feed zone. Finally got up pretty good, but not to base. Headed north again. Down to a grand agl approaching the windmills and got under the edge of a real cloud street. Found some lift that got better and went to base at 12K on the southern edge of the east / west street drifting from the west. I love the up side of changing fortunes. Knowing we were going to base after picking our way across the valley... Stayed near base in the buoyant air past the Mojave Airport. It was looking dark to the east. There was marbled sun in spots, but the blow off from towering development well to the south was moderating the heating even in the sun patches. It was real dark to the north with scattered rain. The drift at altitude was 5 to 10 knots from the west. Light wind from the SW on the deck in the shade below, but stronger SW wind on the deck further SW. Found some buoyant air on the east edge of weak marbled sun just before the Test Track. Tried a few turns but we weren't going up so we opted to try our luck further on. Final glide. Thick shade past California City. Reaching for another sun patch to the east. Got there with a grand, but ran out of altitude. Landed in a smooth 10 to 12 knot breeze from the SW at 4:35. The overdevelopment to the south collapsed and within the next hour most everything nearby was in full sun. The ground was heating and the wind built up into the high teens with gust over 20. The gaggle came through about 30 or 40 minutes after touchdown and was able to stay in the game. We radioed our GPS coordinates, and expected retrieval on the rebound. South Side checked in via cell phone so we asked for a ride. Diablo's vehicle got there about 5 minutes before Edward. Hansford had made the mistake of getting into the retrieve vehicle at Lockwood, so we took pity and agreed to shuttle him towards Ojai. Check in with the leaders several times by phone. Long drive back. Thanks to Diablo, Carolyn and Edward for another terrific performance. Got to Rite-Aid in Ventura, but no car. The lot was empty in the early AM. We didn't notice any special signage, but the county fair was happening, and there were plenty of tow trucks. Diablo ran us across town to the impound lot. The gave us a $30 break for AAA membership, so the damage was only $225 instead of $255. Ouch!! Dropped Hansford at NHS and got back to Calle Ocho before 11 pm. I received some conciliatory comments about the gaggle taking advantage of my marks. I would like to think that I contributed to the push and pull. At the end of the day the leaders were all excellent pilots that earned their reward by flying well, reading the information available, accessing the options, making good decisions, listening to Edward, sharing information, flying as a team, and getting lucky when needed. My personal longest tandem flight! (Still fumbling with Sharon's GPS software, only my second track log, not sure if it's 90 or 91 miles).
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