Blanchard Bash

31 May-2 June

The fly-in a Blanchard was scheduled for the weekend right after Frostbite at Dog Mountain but an unseasonal snowstorm caused its cancellation. Jeff and Stacey Beck re-scheduled the Bash for the weekend after Memorial Day. By then C.J. was pretty sure that she would be ready to fly on her birthday, the 31st. All that was needed was for the rain to stop and the skies to clear by Friday.

31 May, Fri - On the way up I-5 we had to go through the detour around the collapsed span of the Skagit River bridge at Mt. Vernon. It was pretty slow. Then we got gas at Costco and headed over to Camping World to look for a reclining chair with a footrest for C.J. (It was her birthday, after all - and I had a sale flyer and a $25 coupon.) Strangely enough, there were no recliners that had a separate adjustment for the footrest. We ended up with a nice, padded rocker and a separate ottoman. We got up to the Beck's around noon and had our pick of the parking spots for our Aliner. We stuck it next to the fence on higher ground to

Honza does a dance move on launch

be out of the wet area. Jeff had already built a huge bonfire and was just doing a last minute cleanup before going off to fly (to Lookout, we heard later). We went up to launch and C.J. took a flight and I drove down to pick her up. Then we went back to launch for another flight. This time we both flew and C.J. stayed up while I launched later and had a nine minute extended (not very) sledder. I left C.J. to pack up while I went back with Roger (I think) to get the Sorento from launch. That was enough and we returned to the Beck's to hang out with the other early arrivers. C.J. got good use out of her new chair and ottoman. After asking a number of local folks (including Delvin Crabtree who was camped nearby in his '98 Chalet) about a good place to eat and celebrate C.J.'s birthday, we settled upon Chuckanut Manor right at the base of Blanchard Hill. The Friday night crowd was not a problem and we were able to get a 7 p.m. reservation with no difficulty. We decided that it was warm enough to eat outside on the deck with a view of the tide flats and the bay across to Samish Island and beyond. The special was a buffet which included crab, oysters (breaded and on the half-shell), shrimp (cocktail and breaded), mussels, as well as flatiron steak, pork rib and prime rib. There were salads and veggies as well. Everything was excellent including the rich chocolate cake we shared for dessert. Back at camp there was a small fire in the BBQ pit so we hung around for a while. It was kind of chilly as we got ready for bed but it must have clouded up during the night as it seemed to get warmer through the night.

1 June, Sat - We got up at a reasonable time (i.e., not very early), had oatmeal for breakfast and wandered up to the trailhead just in time to sign in for the DNR work party. REI was one of the sponsors and provided blue "volunteer" t-shirts and 20%-off coupons. There were also lots of snacks available as well as bottled water. This year the other large group was the mountain bike coalition. The pilots all went up to launch (on the newly graveled road with new culverts) and did a bunch of trimming, weed cutting and raking. Before noon people began to fly and C.J. took a flight. I went down to pick her up and by the time we got back to the trailhead lunch was almost ready (about 1400). The volunteers had prepared BBQ chicken, brats, and other sausage. There was salad and lots of chips, as well as homemade cookies and brownies. Soft drinks and beer were available. Back at launch C.J. took another flight but the conditions had not really turned on yet. I flew later and was able to soar about 300 ft over launch but not enough to go way back and get over the Oyster Dome. I thought the air was not particularly smooth and too full of other wings. After 45 min. or so I flew out over the bay far enough that I could look down at the deck of the Chuckanut Manor before I landed. C.J. had gotten a ride to launch and driven the car back to the Beck's. I got a ride up in the back of Jeff's pickup with a couple of hang pilots and a pg from Eatonville. By 1900 or so the potluck was getting started and there were tasty snackies to keep us going until the marinated chicken and baked salmon were cooked. There was a good assortment of main dishes, salads and desserts (including C.J.'s rhubarb-blueberry crisp). When it started to get dark Jeff used a propane torch to light the big bonfire. The dry Christmas tree on the top flamed high and the sparks left trails of light. Later I was at the sink washing out the crisp pan when I heard a loud THUMP and then a hubbub from the crowd. I thought it might have been an explosion as in fireworks, but it was Jim Wagner hitting the side of Jaro's van at the end of the zipline. Fortunately he didn't seem to be hurt; we didn't get a good look at the dent in the side of the van to see if it was a cartoon-shape of Wagner a la Wiley Coyote.


2 June, Sun - Breakfast got started around 0900 when Jeff , Stacey, Roger, and other volunteers began to cook sausage, scrambled eggs and blueberry pancakes over the charcoal fire. There were a lot fewer than the 70 or so people who had been there the night before so it wasn't quite an impossible task. [The sign-in sheet showed approximately 46 people (pilots mostly) who donated $25 or more toward the Blanchard Bash.] After breakfast Honza and Jesse gave a (fund raising) presentation on the Red Bull X-Alps. A couple of the rules/guidelines have been changed this year - there can be two helpers for each competitors, and everyone must stop between 2130 and 0530 except for one all-nighter. It had been cloudy all morning but when we started driving up to launch with Chris and Patricia, the sun came out - maybe it had been sunny on the west side of Blanchard all morning??? Conditions looked even more "north" (actually W and NW) than the previous days but an occasional launch would stick and climb out for a while. C.J. had jammed a toe on her left foot when landing on Sat (or maybe it was Fri) and her other foot was sore anyway so she did not think she would fly. I wasn't crazy about the conditions and finally

Honza shows his "Pilot Needs Ride" sign

decided that we might as well get headed toward home. It was about 1600 when we headed down the hill and it didn't take long to pack up and hook up the trailer to get on the road. But it was just about the worst time of the day for trying to get across the Skagit River on the Burlington detour so we decided to take a long detour instead over Fir Island down south of La Conner. We would think of it as exploring new territory, not as a "short cut". Our maps were not very detailed and the GPS directions were somewhat dubious, but we found our way down the secondary roads past a number of tulip farms and vegetable stands and back to I-5. We reached home around 1900 and ate the leftover pizza.