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Saturday, 9/25/04 Anytime someone gets up in the morning before the birds do on a weekend, especially when they don’t have to, has a problem and needs help. I’m starting to wonder if it might be a good idea to start a paraholics support group. You know, 12 step program, 30 and 60 day no fly chips. Maybe even a ceremony where we hold up candles in front of our face in a dimly lit room, admit our problem and ask for help. These thoughts ran through my mind as I was beating the snot out of my alarm clock at 4:30 in the morning knowing I had to meet Tom and Chris in 1 hour for the drive to the Owens. It’s funny, the idea seemed so great the night before… At Walts launch 9:45. Cycles were coming in light and consistent, a few birds circling just left of launch, time to go. Tom was off first and I launched minutes later. We both fished just left of launch in some light thermals that were tracking very close to the terrain. Tom, feeling a little uncomfortable with the terrain clearance, headed for the front points while I stayed with the lift topping out around 10,200. Tom was striking out in front so he bolted around the corner hoping to connect. I headed to the first spine hoping to join him but Tom soon sunk out. At this point I was milking the spine hovering around 8,000 and not real interested in running down range without Tom, so I spiraled down and Tom and I headed back up for round 2. I launched first this time at 1:00, connecting just left of launch. Tom launched, connected over the saddle and we both headed down range. Time was against us and we weren’t making great progress. The views were spectacular as we moved along boating between 9,500-11,500 with thermals averaging 500 fpm. There were a few times when I got close to 13,000 and each time I could definitely feel the prevailing west winds coming over the tops of the Sierras. Just past Onion Valley the Eastern sierras were beginning to shade in and our hopes of making the jump to the Whites seemed dim. Tom was feeling the pressure to get to the jump point and pushed a little faster getting lower at each spine forcing him into the flats. I exercised a little patience and kept my altitude high which forced me to slow down a bit. As most of you reading this know, it’s not often that you get to fly close to your buddies while going downrange. Tom and I have similar flying styles and the more we fly together the more often we end up flying in close proximity. So, I was disappointed to hear Tom announce he was landing…bummer. My watch showed 3:30 and I was a little short of Tinemaha peak getting lower at each spine as the shade began to take over. I rounded Tinemaha at 9,000 and headed for the partially sunny SE face of the next spine. It took me 45 minutes but I worked my way up to 12,200. I took aim at Round Mountain, which is just short of Bishop, and took off. Even though the Eastern Sierras were shaded in I still had plenty of daylight left and I thought I had a good shot at Round Mountain with a possible boost. Unfortunately I didn’t connect on the way, so I was forced to come in low and didn’t have the altitude to fish around. Limping around the face of Round I decided to make the best of it and headed for the 395, landing just short of Bishop at 5:30, 57 miles and 4 ½ hours later. Minutes later Chris and Tom scooped me up and we headed into Bishop, checked into the roach motel and landed a table for 3 at Whiskey Creek for some whopper flight stories and a thick steak. Too much fun… Sunday 9/26/04 Roach motel 7:15 a.m. and I’m propped up in bed looking over at Tom fluffing the sheets and sucking his thumb. Chris was on a floor mattress clinging to his stuffed condor that he’d had since he was 6 muttering something about deer and antelope. The only thing missing was Sunday morning cartoons. It’s the truth…really! Since Ron Meyer was joining us today we decided to meet in Lone Pine for breakfast before heading up. Quick weather checks confirmed very similar conditions to Saturday with L&V to 12k but some nasty 20+ west at 18k. The only question was where we would find the nasty west. Would it be closer to 12k or 18k? I found my answer to this question down range. First thing we did at the top was check out the west winds at an observation area just up from launch. It was a little stronger than Saturday but within a half hour it seemed to block well. The other PG pilots that joined us yesterday were absent today but were replaced by 3 hang gliders. At 10:30 the temperatures were almost identical to Saturday, but the cycles seemed a little lighter, so we decided to wait a bit. At about 11:15 the cycles picked up and daylight was burning, so it was time to go. Tom was first to launch following the same path as he did on Saturday, getting low out front and blowing around the corner. I launched soon after Tom around 11:45 and connected to the left of launch much like the day before. There was plenty of lift around launch but it was real trashy. We lost track of Tom and he wasn’t responding on the radio, he definitely had us worried. I was hanging out over launch around 10,500 waiting for Ron to join me but he ended up getting stuck behind the hang gliders at launch. Twenty minutes later, still over launch waiting for Ron, I spotted Tom around 8,500 at the first spine down range and I felt very relieved. Those of you who have flown the unforgiving Eastern Sierras know very well that it is definitely not a place where you want to lose radio and visual contact with your flying buddies. The Eastern Sierras are as spectacular as they are dangerous and I truly understand how much respect they deserve. Tom finally reported in explaining that his radio jumped freq’s but he was back and ready to go. With Ron still stuck at launch I decided to turn and run to meet up with Tom. The first couple spines were much tougher work than the day before with much less altitude, ugghhh... For the first 5 or 6 miles altitudes ranged between 9-10k and it started to get a little warm under the 3 layers of clothes. We arrived at Whitney Portal at about 9k and it wasn’t getting any easier, so Tom announced he was getting tired and frustrated and was going to make a play for the flats. Soon after Ron reported in and I was glad to hear he was still in the air. Patience paid off and I worked my way up to 12k and went on course. I bounced down the spines around 10k and arrived at the South side of Onion Valley. Ron had been making great progress and finally joined me at Onion Valley. I was about 1,500 above him and working some light stuff when he announced he was heading for the flats. Damn, where was everyone going! I was very disappointed. It’s not nearly as much fun flying alone. With all the stories about the potential for high winds blowing through Onion Valley I decided to get high before crossing just as I had done the day before. I worked my way up and finally crested the peak to find a screamer that boosted me to 13,800. It was at this point that I started to feel the west winds as they tossed me in the thermal. I topped out and decided to point the glider west to see what the deal was. Hmmmmm… average ground speeds of 8-10, that can’t be good. It’s about a 2 mile crossing before you're able to connect with some decent structure on the other side of Onion Valley. By the time I connected on the other side I was down to 11k and I could really feel the west coming over the top. That canyon was sink city. Now I was focused on the west wind and I was becoming concerned. The SE face of the spine on the North side of Onion Valley, and the valley itself, was getting lots of sun and I headed for what looked like, and was, a prime trigger. BAMMMMM! The first contact jerked me up and spit me out as my pupils dilated to the size of dinner plates. I couldn’t stand it, I was going back for more. This time I was able to penetrate a little better and I could swear I heard mission control on my radio as I was ripped straight up at a rate my vario couldn’t understand. I should have set the drag on this one because I was getting spooled. It was one of those thermals that you're too scared to turn in. It was as strong as it was violent but I wasn’t about to leave it for fear of what lay in wait on the perimeter. The higher I got the more convoluted the thermal became as the west winds started to bite into it. Tom and Chris said they could see my glider getting tossed from their vantage point on 395, without binoculars! I topped out around 15,600 and pointed the glider west to find myself parked. Hmmmmm… what to do-what to do-what to do. Actually, the choice was made for me. Since I had plenty of terrain clearance I headed north and ended up crabbing so severely that my ground speed reduced to 10, and I was sinking rapidly. It was a no-brainer, point ENE and hit the speed bar. Ground speeds increased to 47 and the sink alarm was singing the blues. The further I descended, the stronger the sink. There were times I was showing 12-1,400 down. This continued until I had lost 7k and I was a third of the way across the valley floor, I couldn’t believe it. The strong west winds were coming right over the tops of the peaks and curling down into the valley. I had to imagine what it might be like if I had been lower on the peaks or even deep in the canyons…ouch. I wasn’t finding much on the flats and was feeling the disappointment. Chris reminded me about Crater Mountain so I took aim and headed North up the valley. I stopped at the cinder cone just South of Crater at 6500 but she wasn’t giving it up. Each time I turned into the wind I found myself parked. Finally I came in to South side of Crater and began fishing only to come up empty. Maybe I was using the wrong bait? The small knob to the east of Crater had a few birds circling above it so I moved over and found a gain of about 4 or 500. I took the scraps and headed North gliding over 395 and landing at 4:00 in a grassy field on the south end of Big Pine, 46 miles and 4 ½ hours later. At this point I was more than happy to be on the ground, I was too damn tired. I purchased and have been flying the Zoom lately, but I decided to dust of my Artax for the Eastern Sierras this last weekend. I’m glad I made that decision because even on a seemingly benign day the Eastern Sierras can throw you a curve ball as I experienced twice on this day. Most of all, the Artax gave me much more confidence in the tough stuff and allowed me to relax a bit more. It was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun flying with my friends. Thanks again to Chris for taking on the retrieve duties. There’s a big group going back on 10/9 & 10/10, hope to see you there. I would like to thank todays sponsors: Too much fun! |
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