Summer Weekend at Dog

30-31 July

After a half week of 80-plus degree days the forecast was for a cool stretch. We left around 1000 Saturday and got down to Tina and Larry’s airstrip ranch property around 1230 after stopping for gas at Covington (2.399). We set up in the shade of some of the remaining tall doug firs and hung out with Tina and Larry who were the only ones around – Jazzy and family were off doing something else and all the pilots must have already been at Dog. Larry had had a long flight Friday evening so they weren’t in a rush to get to launch. We went over around 1630 and noted that it was still pretty windy on launch. We got to watch some paragliders towing behind Todd’s winch boat. They got pretty high on the 6000 ft of towline. Wind was switching back and forth between the west launch and the north, but mostly was blowing from the NW. Andrew and a couple of other PG launched along with the hangies but Tina was waiting for the wind to settle on one direction. Finally C.J. tried the west launch and had a good takeoff. Tina went next. I decided that it wouldn’t be much fun in the strong wind so I drove the Jorgensen’s truck down. Since the wind was quite north, people were landing on the lakebed, and those who landed in the LZ had problems (I wasn’t there, but I heard that even Larry had a whack, and Carmela from CA broke a downtube but she was way out on the lakebed.) C.J. came in with a good approach on the lakebed but her basetube (she thought maybe it was her feet) got caught by the high weeds and she hit pretty hard. Fortunately, she let go and swung forward and suffered no more than a bruise from the front wire. James Pfiser and Travis ran out to her to make sure she was all right, and carried her wing back to the breakdown area. Since it was already pretty late, a bunch of us had dinner at the Bucksnort Pub in Morton. Surprisingly it wasn’t crowded on a Saturday night and the bacon-burger and fries were tasty. By the time we got back to camp and made up the bed it was close to 2330.

31 July, Sun – It was nice and cool overnight; the sheets and down comforter were just right. We got up around 0730 and had oatmeal and fruit (including some freshly picked blueberries from Tina’s bushes). Larry had been up even earlier but Tina was just getting going when C.J. brought some plum cobbler over for a breakfast goodie. Later C.J. and Tina did some gardening stuff. By around 1130 we were ready to go see what the conditions looked like for flying. There wasn’t anyone in the LZ but we met Rick Lai and Stas driving their trucks down so they could hike back up. Tim was the only one on launch where the wind was mostly north. I waited until it came around to the west then had a lucky inflation on my first try and, after kiting out a collapse, launched. The lift was widespread and smooth but didn’t go very high. It was easy to just fly back and forth and get up over launch. I made a few 360s but they didn’t get me any higher. Once it was clear that it was soarable, Tim threw his battens in and took off. At that time I had flown out toward the lake (always hoping for a magical, easy climb that would allow me to reach the elusive Elk Mountain across the lake), and Tim climbed up above me over the launch. It wasn’t too long after that that the windlines started to appear along with whitecaps. The air got a bit more “textured” and I flew out over the LZ and started to slowly lose altitude. I could see the wind tossing the trees branches and the marks of wind swirls in the tall grass around the LZ. I set up over the center of the LZ and looked at my GPS; it was showing 8-9kph with the heading anywhere from 216 to 166. That would mean I was sliding toward the south but I was thinking that I might be going backwards. I pushed on more speed bar and held it until just before I touched down. To get the wing down quickly I pulled on my left As and right Ds which seemed to work pretty well but wasn’t magically effective (0hr38min). Just as I landed a vehicle headed out of the LZ but when I waved they stopped and came back to give me a ride up to retrieve the Sorento. C.J. had decided to fly in the friendly conditions (much nicer than the previous night) and Rick had reached the takeoff so he could help her get launched safely. I was really grateful to get a ride up with James, Jenn, Dave and Diana. Conditions looked quite a bit stronger on launch when we arrived. Since Dave was there to mentor Jenn, I headed right down. Dave launched first for the PGs and all the hangs had already launched. Tim had landed after me and C.J. had a good landing in the strong wind after having flown for 1hr10mn. By the time we had gotten packed up Rick and Stas had landed; Dave was still flying when we left (but I guess Jenn and Diana did not fly). On the way back we passed Tina and stopped to say thank you and goodbye. Back at the Jorgensen’s we packed up quickly, said goodbye to Larry, who said to come down any time and camp, even if they weren’t home. In the short time we had been gone, he had made a bed frame out of plywood and 2x4s – they are going to have a bunch of guests for Sierra and Cody’s wedding in September so more sleeping places are needed (We volunteered our inflatable bed.). On the way back we stopped at the supermarket in Eatonville to buy a couple loaves of the cheese that was advertised, and then again in Covington for gas (2.359). Signs along SR 18 indicated long delays on the Tiger Mtn summit due to an accident. Traffic was moving fine all the way to the ISS-Hobart Rd, but we exited anyway and drove through Issaquah to I-90. It was after 1900 when we got home and we had left shortly after 1600 – long trip.