Saddle? Nope, Kiona

Presidents Day 2009

Dave Norwood had reported good flying at Saddle on Saturday and, as Monday approached, predicted another good, if lighter day. Ernie Friesen emailed with thoughts of ride sharing but lost interest as Beth was not able to go. C.J. called Rich Hass who hadn't flown Saddle for five years or so and convinced him to sign on. We had a quorum!

It was foggy in north Bend when we left before 1000 but we broke out of it just beyond the pass. Unfortunately as we got closer to Eburg it got more and more overcast. Crossing the Columbia, the wind looked just about right but a call from Dave reported that it was socked in on the top. Later, as we pulled off the road at Beverly he reported that the cloud had lifted just above launch and that he was going to gear up, winds at 12-14.


Rich, C.J. and I got as far as Road R on the way up Saddle when we met Rick Shalman coming down. We could clearly see the long roll-cloud along the Saddle Mountains ridge and, with the report from a ready-to-fly Dave on top and the prospect of lighter winds and clearer skies to the south, we chose to head for Kiona. Conditions when we arrived were good, and improved as the sky cleared. We launched into the straight-in winds and climbed above launch in what felt surprisingly like thermals, not expected for the day. Doc and C.J. headed down to the end of the ridge while Rich and I worked the area around launch. Later Rich and Doc made it west around Dead Dog but not as far as the hang launch where Mark and Jim had been flying earlier. Aptly-named Obiwan (Master Rick) made it back to the LZ while Rich practiced his downwind, downhill technique on the road; C.J. worked on her reverse-landing skills on the ridgetop, and I toplanded in the snowmelt on launch to drive out to C.J. and then down. Although Rick offered to squeeze in another flight before sunset at Temple View, we opted to head out for the 3-hour drive home.


Was it worth the extra 45 minutes of driving to get to Kiona when we could have flown Saddle? Hard to tell, but it's always fun to fly a new site, with good company, and the sunshine made it a lot more pleasant. Nevertheless, I'll keep an ear out for Dave's prognostications and head for Saddle when it sounds good again.

Later emails from Dave, Chris Culler and James Bender indicated that the cloud above launch never lifted above 300 ft and that the hang gliders had to land and de-ice at least once. Two paragliders flew, two did not and one of the two flyers (according to secondhand info) spun-in to the low point between launch and the microwave towers.