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Sunday, 4/24/05
3 flights, 2 from Skyport and one from Bates
Skyport to Cathedral and flush to Mountain Drive, ~
½ hour
Skyport west bound short of West Bowl
then eastbound to Laguna Ridge short of Lake Casitas ~ 21 miles, 1¾
hours
Bates to Bates ~ 45 minutes
total airtime ~ 3 hours
UP Trango II
Good to get out. Colorful post frontal day. Clouds early, and then some wind. Got in Diablo's truck with Tom Pipkin, Sharon, and Edward at Bailard about 8:30. 9 am roll through Parma. On launch about 9:20. It was blowing down about 10 knots. The clouds were draining down the side of the R&R like a waterfall. The high clouds moved off, and the NW wind was pushed back by to up cycles. Airborne about 5 past 10.
Got up a couple hundred right away, but drifted in to the Flores Flat canyon and dropped into a drain. Flushed out and ran for the Holly Hills. First flight on a brand new UP Trango from Eagle Paragliding. Pulled a good glide and came in high over the power lines, but had to look out front to connect. Climbed to cloudbase in the upper 3s and headed for Cathedral.
Ran into some NW. Got on the bar hoping to get sheltered below Cathedral but had to fall off with the flow to the low front points. Down in the lower 2s, but bounced up 4 or 5 hundred on the convergence and headed back for the Holly Hills, which were shaded in down to the low bump above Saint Mary's. Passed on some weak stuff and continued to the prime triggers, but nada. Flew down the spine for the sunny knob out front, playing for the trajectory on the east side. Picked up a few hundred and drifted into the canyon. Didn't really connect and opted to run across downwind to the low points above the saddle behind the Monastery.
Came in low and didn't turn on the small pops. Too low to reach the rock. Could have looked out front, but held on too long in the back. Started to set up an approach for the driveway below the Monastery, but found a little lift and tried to work it. Decided the driveway looked small, so I searched out front over a low grassy spine along Mountain Drive. It was buoyant, so I tried to work it, but fell out the front and was too far upwind to set up for the approach. Missed the grass by a few feet.
Edward collected me and we met up with Roland & EJ. Loaded Double D, Scotty, and Elaine in EJ's truck and headed up. Big crowd on launch. Got off about 11:45ish and picked up a hundred right away. Couldn't get higher in the shade. The drift was from the south and it seemed like the ridge lift would work along the R&R face so I went with a hundred over and got there easily. Climbed to 5K+ and headed for the Peak.
Started encountering NW so I faded for Cathedral. Got back to 5ish and went upwind for Westbowl, but the NW got stronger and I had to fall off. Another good thermal out in front of Cathedral, and pulled a long glide to Ramero Saddle. Came in a couple hundred below the road cut and got back into the upper 3s. Crossed ok, but it had been shaded in for some time along Castle Ridge, and everyone (3 HGs and myself) fell off to the front points.
Worked along and climbed to cloudbase over the last front Castle Point. Diablo indicated he was going to head for the Rincon Coast due to low cloudbase. There had been a good sun line along the Snowball / Cate School ridge, but it was drying and receding. Cloudbase in the back was lifting and more sunlight was getting through. I opted to try the middle route, but the high 3s was the best I could do in the fuzz zone along cloudbase. Probably 15 to 30 minutes too early. Cloudbase continued to lift and recede, but the wind was also picking up. Stopped for a couple of buoyant areas but didn't want to loose position reference.
Down to 35 in the clear over Divide spine just behind the saddle. Seemed like good position, but well behind the sun line. Needed to get up but nada. Started to head for the Gobernador hill, but the west was pushing through, so I fell off to toward the west point of a ridge behind Laguna Ridge. Found a zinger along the sun line and got back into the low 3s. It was drifting toward the saddle in front of East Divide, but I lost the snaky core and I wasn't willing to play back in. Took the ridge east and plummeted. Followed it around to Laguna and got back up from a hundred over to 5 hundred over. Flew east along Laguna Ridge hoping to get lucky, but didn't. Ended up pinned in the wind at the east end of Laguna Ridge, above Lake Casitas. Flew out southbound along the last spine to a high knob, looking for clean air. It was gusting into the high teens. Put down on the firebreak.
Numerous hiking options. Opted to pass on the roads and stuck to the spine's firebreak, which turned into a trail and had several forks off to the left and right. Continued straight ahead on a less used trail that evaporated a hundred yards short of the road. Missed most of the poison oak, but not all of it. Hiked about a half mile in a half hour. Diablo ran retrieve.
White caps on the ocean. Bates was too light and cross from the SE, but birds were soaring a quarter mile off shore. The wind swung around and came in. Got off, but it was cross from the west and bumpy. Tried for 45 minutes. Got to 380 over the beach once, but was mostly down in the low to mid 2 hundreds. Threw in the towel and landed on the terrace below the upper parking. Pack up at Tee Time out of the wind.
Liked the Trango. Didn't take any tip folds despite some broken air in places an the occasional zinger. My harness seemed more wiggly. Will take some hours and bad air to anticipate the rhythm. The glider has some new features my Bonanza didn't. The center engages more than the tips when on the bar, which I presume helps avoid the big tip tucks at speed. I suspect when it goes, it goes hard. I'll find out soon enough. Really need a maneuvers clinic to get confident. Prefer to try some stalls at altitude instead of learning the rhythm a hundred over the terrain, but I've never done an intentional stall on a paraglider.
I suppose well see Doc flying my old Bonanza at Bates.