11/17 Friday Bob Hannah got us to the airport for our 1335 Delta flight. We bought water after getting through TSA security and then had lunch at La Pisa Café. We changed planes in Atlanta and then had a long night flight to Santiago. It was clear enough to watch the terrain of Chile change from desert to farmlands in flat valleys between steep ridges as we flew north to south.
11/18 Saturday There were long lines for the "reciprocity visa" ($100 each) and in the customs/immigration line, a couple of porters who looked more like uniformed officials grabbed our bags and “helped” us to the check-in gate for our flight to Iquique. So we ended up giving them $5. There was a long layover in the
11/19 Sunday There was a typical big hotel breakfast buffet with some unfamiliar kinds of pastries, various cold cereals, fruit, a platter of sliced cheese and ham, and eggs cooked to order –scrambled (revuelito?) with cheese and ham, kiwi and strawberry juice. We made lunch sandwiches on rolls with the cheese and ham. We met the rest of the group again at 0915 at the vans and drove up to Alto Hospicio for a morning flight. It was already lightly soarable when we arrived (about a 20 min ride). I flew for 40 min, toplanded to get sunglasses as the fog burned off, launched again with a brummel hook unfastened so landed again. On my third flight I managed to scratch around for only 10 min before a flush cycle sent me across the dune to the beach. C.J. stayed in the air, got high and was able to fly out to Playa Brava and land near the hotel. We got back to the hotel around 1300 and rested until it was time to meet again at 1530. It was closer to 1600 when we headed out to Palo Buque. The wind was too light there and a bit too W or NW so we headed back to AH. It was easy soaring but no one was getting very high (“very high” in this case meant 100 m over launch). I toplanded after 40 min thinking it would be easier to pack up on the hard sand launch than down on the loose sand beach. It wasn’t. I rode down with Todd then went back to the
11/20 Monday Early breakfast then load at 0830. We’re down to one van with 8 people (Todd Weigand and Luis Rosenkjer, our guides, David Salmon from SLO, Ihor Trufyn from B.C., Summer B from Ashland, and Bob from NC), and our wings on top (Oops, my platypus nozzle must have gotten squeezed because water was running down the side of the van. Not much in my pack was wet but I had to buy another bottle of water from the gas station convenience store). At the Chilean version of the FAA (but run by the military) at the airport, we found out that there was some military exercise going on and that the ridge between Patillos and almost to Palo Buque was closed. We drove about 80 km past Patillos to Playa Chipana, another launch N of Tocopilla. Launch was on a steep, sandy (looked like a glacier) area. The 4WD van was able to get our wings and us most of the way to the launch in two trips. Then we had to struggle up the steep and loose sand to wherever we wanted to lay our wings out. Luis launched first and landed just below launch when it appeared to be too weak. He launched again later followed by David Salmon and they were able to soar and climb above launch. I took off shortly after 1200, made a few passes over the sand and then had to land when I began to sink. I didn’t launch again until after C.J. launched. This time I made just two passes before crossing the small canyon to the N and getting on the rock-studded slope (probably an alluvial fan). (See my tracklog left) I flew low across the slope gaining altitude slowly and I worked some rough thermal lift . Eventually, I was high enough to head N as I continued to work ratty ridge and thermal. I was way below the top of the ridge (2000’+) for most of the flight and had to turn the corners much lower than I wanted to. At one point Todd and I turned a corner (he was much higher). There was a long glide in sink before getting back to the portion of the bowl that faced into the wind and I was down to 500’ which looked like about 100’ over the ground. I was looking at possible LZs in the rocky terrain. However, lift was available even that low and the rest of the flight (1 hr 35 min, 31.5 km) was easier with clouds forming at or above the ridge. When I spotted Ihor on the ground before another big spur, I flew out, took some photos and landed nearby (S of the spur south of Rio Seco). C.J. meanwhile had sunk out after being exhausted by carrying her (my) wing up to launch. Bob, Summer and C.J. were already at Ihor’s LZ and C.J. got some photos of my approach and landing.
11/21 Tuesday Up at 0700 for an early breakfast so we could get to the grocery store to buy water before we left at 0915. Unfortunately, the store (
11/22 Wednesday We loaded up at 0845 for Chipana. On the way down C.J. and I talked with Ihor, who had been here touring around with his wife for the previous two weeks, about renting cars and traveling around on our own. Once again the van ferried our gear and bodies (in separate trips) to as high on the dune as possible. But this time Bob carried C.J.’s pack up (way up, higher than necessary, almost to where an earlier-arriving group from
11/23 Thursday We loaded the van at 0930 and drove to Patillos, then took the mine road to the launch (signed “Zona de Parapentes”). The whole area reminded me of Doherty Slide with the road angling up the face of a bluff and the lack of vegetation. Launch was a pullout on the side of the road with a small parking area across the road. The launch had a somewhat rounded slope so pulling the wing up would not be too difficult if you didn’t wait until the winds got strong. I took off about 1130 (after C.J. and Ihor) and made several passes gaining altitude quickly until I was above the top of the bluff and looking down on a rugged plateau. C.J. and Ihor were above me but the climb out was so easy that I passed through 750 m and radioed that I was ready to cross to the next point. Todd advised waiting another 20 min for the lift to develop. Several minutes later I hit a boomer and climbed to 883 m (2740 ft) [Airspace restriction was 1000 m] and headed across the gap to the next point. I worked there for a long time and even tried to come back against the wind when the rest of the group were getting up back in front of the first point. Eventually I just went on glide and caught some lift low on the next face. About this time David passed me and led the rest of the way. We were getting higher than on the previous days farther south (1800-2000’) and bumping along from point to point. About 15 km out we came to a point that had a big gap north of it. We spent quite a bit of time trying to get really high but I finally had to leave with just 1800’. I was waaay back in there through the sink-y rotor and crossing a gap which appeared to be a bombing/missile range with target building painted (?) on the ground. I was clocking close to 60 kph when I finally reached a point (very low) where the wind was hitting the face pretty much straight on. A few passes got me a more comfortable distance above the valley floor and a long walk out through deep sand to the highway. Back up to 1600-1800’ I followed Ihor, who also had had a low save, and Todd to the next point/spur which was directly E of the airport. I thought that the next bowl/gap would be even deeper than the preceding one and would put me far from the road again (it turned out that I was mistaken and the really big gap was the preceding one) so when Ihor and Todd headed across, I turned into the wind and penetrated slowly out towards the highway using speedbar until I was near the ground. I collapsed the wing using the D-lines and quickly pulled in on one brake line. (2hr 00min, 22 km). Luis met me with the van as I reached the highway and we went for lunch at Cote Verdes, one of a collection of restaurants and snack bars, about 25 km from
11/24 Friday After breakfast we loaded up for Chipana at 0900. I launched at 12:15 and got up quickly, well, compared to the previous two flights here. Luis advised me not to go on alone so after everyone had launched, I came back over launch and caught a strong, smooth 1000 fpm thermal to higher than I had been near launch before. 30 min or so later Todd, in the van, announced whitecaps and C.J. decided to land before the 3rd point. Even though I was higher than on previous flights, Luis, David and Ihor were higher still. Crossing the big gap at the mine road, I was down to 600’ but managed to scratch back up. Somewhere around the next ridge I found another strong thermal and reached the highest point of the day, around 2750’. At another point a small cloud formed right in front of me and all I had to do was fly under it to get to 2400’. Before reaching the point south of Rio Seco, my radio battery died and I did not hear Todd report whitecaps and strong winds at Rio Seco. I had planned to land anyway and followed the others out to the edge of the ocean and landed on the east side of the road. (1 hr 30 min, 31.5 km). On the way back we stopped at Las Verdes again but this time at La Picá de Pescador where the food was even better and just as inexpensive. C.J. and I shared the menu of the day: 2 empanadas and a big plate of fried apañados (a type of fish –very good) and ensalada chilenas. We were all stuffed and, since the wind appeared too strong at Palo Buque, we returned to the hotel. C.J. and I washed some clothes (which we had been doing every day), dealt with trip finances with Todd (we had to pay for an additional day), did some computer stuff and took a shower. We planned to meet at 1945 to go out for ice cream in lieu of doing an anniversary dinner. Luis and Todd took us down to the center of
11/25 Saturday After breakfast we headed back to Chipana for our last try at a long cross country flight. Todd had reminded us the previous day to fly safe since we had a perfect record so far. I launched at 1225 and everyone went high while I groveled to the first corner and around it. Then I finally caught some good lift and got up with the rest of the party and stayed relatively high for the rest of the flight. We passed Rio Seco at about 90 min. and climbed on the small ridge just beyond. At some point I reached 3100’ –
11/26 Sunday After breakfast we went up to Alto Hospicio at 0930, cleaned the sand out our wings and straightened the lines from our hurried packing up yesterday in the wind. I launched around 1035 and soared around for a while before heading down the ridge to the north. Crossing the power lines where a road switchbacks up to Alto Hospicio was scary (especially when Luis, mistaking someone else for me, said, “Watch out for the power lines ahead of you!” when I had already crossed all of them…I thought). I spent a half hour above a gravel pit at the point of the ridge nearest to Playa Brava getting no higher than 2100’ (Luis and Todd had recommended 2300’). It turned out that 2000’ was easily high enough on a light wind day as I ended up 1000’ over the beach when I arrived at the hotel. I took a bunch of pictures while crossing and above the beach. After landing (1 hr 10 min) I packed up on the grass and rolled the wing up for airline travel. C.J. met me at the beach having landed at Huyaquique. We returned to the hotel to pick up our lunch and then back to the beach to sit in the shade of the palm trees on the grass. Afterward we walked up the beach in the wet sand – the dry sand was too hot. There were lots of birds and a few line and net fishermen. We walked as far as the beginning of Cavancha before heading back to the convenience store near the hotel for a “Menta Chip” ice cream bar. C.J. worked on the computer and with Todd and Luis the rest of the afternoon while I downloaded photos from the A80 onto C.J.’s flash drive using the hotel’s public computer. Then I tried uploading to Picasaweb with no luck, but at least I chose the photos I wanted uploaded. Later I sent an email to Bernadette and Wayne. Back in the room at 1730 C.J. did more proofing, and this was after she had already had a working breakfast with David and Luis. Dinner was “mustgos” at 1900 in Luis’ room.
11/27 Monday After breakfast the rental car was delivered and there was the usual contract to sign and checking over the car for damage, all in Spanish. – and gestures and some translation help from one of the bellhops. It was a small Hyundai Accent (?) with 173,000 km on the odometer – not like an Alamo/Avis/Hertz late model with hardly any mileage. I agreed to another $6/day insurance which was probably not necessary but so cheap that it seemed worth it. As far as I could tell, the final cost was something like $35 per day. On the way out of town we got gas which cost 600 pesos per liter (or about $4.80 per gallon). We drove up to Alto Hospicio and then we were in new country continuing east on the highway through AH and then climbing higher onto the Pampas de Tamarugal plateau. Almost to the intersection with the
11/28 Tuesday After breakfast we loaded the rental car with warm clothes, lunches and 5 L of water, got gas and pulled out around 0900. We retraced our previous route almost to Pozo Almonte then turned N on the
11/29 Wednesday I asked the bellhop Antonio if he could check to see if we could drop the car off at the airport – nope, has to be in town. I gave him 5000 pesos for his help in renting the car. We had a leisurely breakfast and at about 0930 drove to near
11/30 Thursday After breakfast we took a taxi to the airport, checked in and flew to Antofagosta where we had to wait for conditions to improve at La Serena. At
12/1 Friday Breakfast was more typical of a small hotel – juice, hot chocolate and six slices of toast, butter and jam. We checked out of Hotel Lira and caught a taxi to Hotel Vegas – our laziness gene overcame our cheapness gene. We were surprised to be directed immediately to our room because it was only 10:00 A.M. The second surprise was that the room was a matrimonial rather than the doble which we had expected. The manager later explained that the couple (from SF) who had been in there had asked to move because the party in the café under the windows had been loud and had gone on till early in the morning. [The local soccer team had scored a big victory the previous day] Anyway, there were lots of windows and a sitting area in the corner turret that looked out on the cobblestone Calle Londres. (Compared to looking out on a rather scruffy lightwell as in Hotel Lira.) We went out to get stamps (only at post offices) for the only post cards we had seen so far in
12/2 Saturday We awakened this morning to the sound of “Ave, Ave, Ave Maria” as a procession from Iglesia de San Francisco bearing a large statue of Mary passed right under our windows. Breakfast was a hot buffet with hot dogs (?), bacon, omelets, toast, juice, hot milk (for cocoa for me), yogurt, fruit, etc. – not as extensive as at the Terrado Club but quite good. C.J. worked until 1100 when we went down to the front desk, checked out and stored our gear in a back room off the terrace. Then we took the Metro to Baquedano (Plaza Italia) and walked to the base of Cerro San Cristobal where we took the funicular to the terrace below the summit (869m). The whole area was busy with weekend crowds – boy scouts, pilgrims, lovers, bicyclists and just tourists. We could pick out the hill we climbed the day before and some of the downtown area. The summit is crowned with a large statue of Mary standing on a crescent moon. Pope John Paul II said mass here during his visit in 1989 (?) We checked out the teleferic and then went back down on the funicular. We had lunch at a sidewalk restaurant La Palmera on Pio Nono – pork chops and a big ensalada Chilena for me and a soup with chicken, green beans, and potato for C.J. We shared a schop, 500 ml stein of Escudo beer. We took the Metro back to Santa Lucia and returned to the Centro Artesanal where C.J. bought a skirt. After a pit stop and a rest in the hotel lobby we went out along one of the paseos to get an ice cream, our last excursion before catching a minibus to the airport. At the plaza, we sat and watched kids chasing the pigeons then walked over to see why a crowd had gathered. C.J. stumbled into a space in the grating covering a drainage channel and punctured her leg at the top of her shin. Many people stopped to help with baby wipes, bandaids and compassion. We got a bandage on and limped over to a Cruz Verde pharmacy where an English-speaking salesgirl checked the wound and sold us some antiseptic and Steri-strips for pulling the wound together. We headed back to the hotel and hung out there until our minibus arrived and took us to the airport. We had a nice conversation on the way with a lady who had just returned from her second cruise to Antarctica. The line at Delta was long but we checked our bags with no trouble. We did not have our original travel document so had to fill out another set before going through passport control. No water was allowed in so I bought C.J. another bottle once we were through airport security. Then we had about 6500 Chilean pesos left and the duty free shop had both pisco and pre-mixed pisco sour. I bought one of each for us and had to hand-carry them on to the plane. Once through the gate, there was another inspection of our carry-ons on the jetway and C.J. had to give up her unopened bottle of water (!) but the liquor made it through. We got dinner on the long flight and slept for a few hours.
12/3 Sunday There were long lines to go through US passport control in Atlanta, almost no inspection at all of our luggage and all we had to do was push our cart into a line of carts at the end of the room and airport baggage handlers took it from there. To go through the TSA security check we could have no liquids (except for the 3-oz bottles in a 1-qt ziplock bag) so I had to run back to our checked bags and stuff the two bottles inside C.J.’s wing bag hoping the glass would survive. We had seats at the very back again just as on our flight SEA-ATL but the view was good all the way across the country and the back-of-the-seat- monitors could be set to show the GPS map of our route. We came in past
Great trip!