July Cumulus

From: RF
Activity_Date: 7/1/01
Remote Name: 165.247.241.69

Comments

It's not always best to launch first. It seemed like there were some decent cycles blowing in every few minutes at Pine launch. But I chose one which was backing off when I launched first and therein decided my fate for the next 30 minutes. I headed straight for the ridge to the west and came in over the knob only five feet over the tops of the pine trees. Nothing but sucker pops and sink going on before the knob. There were some weak thermals on the ridge, but they were small and I kept falling out the back as the west wind drifted me over the canyon. Finally, there were no more options and I headed for the tiny hills out front.

Twice I came within ten feet of touching down as I did some serious scratching over "Last Chance" ridge. What was there to lose? I was about staying even as I let the west wind drift me along the ridgetop. At the east end of the ridge, with that little meadow out in front of me with the tiny canyon that leads to halfmoon, I got the first thermal that I could hold onto. Fifty feet a minute up, but it got me three hundred feet over and some breathing room. I made a stab back toward Reyes and immediately sunk out. But on the way back to the ridge I attached once again and started a series of turns that didn't stop until I was above launch and then over nine grand. As I drifted toward Reyes the air was bouyant everywhere and I noticed the west wind had died. SD called it right; I was in convergence. That took me to almost ten grand. I explored the mountain top west of Reyes and topped out at 10,500. Seeing only one other glider in the air, I decided to leave my friends and take the drift toward the cumulus in Lockwood, especially since SD was reporting only 8,500 to 9,000 at points east.

It's not good to always launch first and it's not good to leave good lift sources too early on a strengthening day. Full speed bar only got me about three miles toward Lockwood when it was apparent I wouldn't make it without a real decent lift source. The ridges were letting nothing go and I didn't feel like scratching too low as I was a HOT two mile walk to the highway. Now I had more to lose. So I turned northwest and tried every bump and ridge as I headed toward the road and the mouth of Dry Canyon. Over the last ridge I saw some folks shooting pictures of me and I thought, "This may be my ticket out!" I parked the glider right next to their green Subaru wagon and asked for a lift. Bernard, Chess and Dave were very obliging and interested in the particulars of the flight and the sport. They took me over to the settlement at Reyes Creek and bought me a beer! We talked and had a look at the fat rainbow trout hanging out in the creek under the back deck. We picked up Tom Beidler and they kindly drove us back to Pine Mountain. (They live at Pine Mountain Club, by the way.) What a treat. A fun encounter after a good low save on the south side. But I missed what happened to everyone else except Sharon, who I saw specked out under a cumi as I left the bar.

I hope to see my three new friends on a tandem or in the air sometime soon!