14-17 July 2017
We had heard about the
new site near Chewelah in Eastern Washington over two years ago. And C.J. had
even written an article about it for the magazine. But we hadn’t managed to get
over there and see it for ourselves. When Steve Baran of Center of Lift
announced a fly-in to be held there, we put it on our calendar.
14 July, Fri – We originally wanted to get started on
Thursday but the part I needed to get the trailer tail lights working wasn’t
supposed to arrive before the 13th (As it happened, the T-One wiring
harness by Tekonsha showed up on the 12th and I got it installed the
same day replacing the Curt wiring harness which had malfunctioned). We got
going around 0830 and took I-90 all the way to Spokane where we got off near
the airport to go to a Walmart to get a collapsible water container to replace
the one I had left in the garage. We ended up with four one-gallon bottles of
water instead of a 5-gal jug of questionable quality (and a bag of delicious
red cherries). Then we drove through Spokane on US 395 and stopped at Costco
for gas (not the usual Costco we have stopped at on previous trips in Spokane
Valley). The traffic was pretty slow on a Friday afternoon but we got to the LZ
and camp area sometime after 1600. No one was there and we were out of cell
phone reception for ATT. Still, Steve must have seen us arrive from the upper
launch and drove down to welcome us. Conditions for flying for the mostly hang
glider crowd was “not soarable” but Don Croft flew his paraglider and managed a
soaring flight and another PG also flew but did not soar. [Later Don did a
little scooter towing] Since the newly bulldozed road to upper launch was
serious 4WD, we couldn’t go up to check out conditions so we just hung out
meeting and visiting with the local pilots and those from Canada (Simon
Mitchell and others) and Montana (Paul Roys, Mike Zuchetto, and others). No one
else showed up from western Washington. We set up our Alps Mountaineering shade
structure to add to the market umbrella Steve had erected at the tables he was
using for registration ($25 each plus 2 t-shirts @ $10 ea). Overnight it cooled
down and we had a spectacular thunder and lightning show with just a little
rain. I got up in time to put the solar panel in the car before the controller
got wet.
15 July, Sat – About eight of us went in to Valley, a small
town just a mile or two to the south, at the end of the Inkler ridge. We found
Mama’s Café which turned out to be quite nice. After breakfast Steve took
us on a tour to the upper launch at Inkler’s and then down through the
Wuesthof’s compound and out their paved driveway to CR 231. Later, Steve
decided that we should give Parker Mountain, just a few miles away, a try. We
drove over to the LZ (1670’); I left our vehicle there and we rode up with
Steve and others. We had to pass through a gate (birth-7, same as the combo at
the LZ) but the road was 2WD. [From the LZ on Cottonwood Road, head east on
2888 for one mile, just before a rocky cliff on the right take a right fork and
drive through the forest breaking out in a clearing below launch (possible
bailout below road), after re-entering the woods, turn left uphill just before
another clearing. Launch is a large clearing at about 2950’ big enough for
setup and launching two gliders at once]. The sky showed dark clouds with virga
in the distance but coming toward us and we did get showered on. Almost
everyone set up but only Steve flew and he had a sledder. We drove down with
Tony Policani and headed back to camp and the LZ (1670’). Later we rode up to Inkler’s
upper launch (2360’) with Steve, and C.J. managed to launch before the wind
picked up. I packed up (difficult on the moon dust-covered surface). A bunch of
hang gliders (6?) launched and soared in the strong winds. I was ready to head
down, but just before sunset the wind moderated and launch conditions improved.
I had a scenic sunset flight pushing farther to the north each time until I was
soaring over the lower launch and even got to the NW end of the ridge overlooking
Rte. 231. After returning to the upper launch I tried going south as far as I
could, almost to Valley, then back to the LZ where C.J. was holding our wind
streamer for me as I came in over the hang gliders (about 22 min). The high 90
deg temperatures dropped as the sun set again.
16 July, Sun – We prepared our own
breakfast (although Steve and Susan went a few miles up the road to the Chewelah
Casino and found a Sunday brunch which he said provided enough food for three
meals). Later Steve took us up to see the lower launch (2160) which has less
parking and set-up room than the upper launch. Then continued up to upper
launch where conditions did not look good. We returned to the LZ passing the
Wuesthof’s (Shawn and Stephania) house. Later Lance Stafford showed up with his
PG and we rode up to the TO with him. Conditions looked light enough for
paragliders (all the hangs were waiting for it to get “better”) so I laid out
and took off. I was more confident about the site this time and was able to get
above the takeoff to 2700’ and boat around for 17 min before landing in strange
conditions. It felt like I was on a conveyor belt as I flew and flew staying
less than 10 ft above the ground before landing. Lance had a very short flight
while I was in the air. C.J. did not launch until conditions improved later,
but she had a short (5 min) flight. Her landing was also strange with her
getting dumped from a few feet up and the wing blowing over her head as though
she was landing downwind. Later we noted some dust devils, so weird things were
happening. I finally got around to putting the tiedown on the trailer as it got
gusty. We had been thinking that maybe we would stay the night and then head
back via US 20 over Sherman Pass the next day, but Steve asked us if we’d like
to spend the night at his house. A shower sounded good so we agreed. Meanwhile,
Tony had some food left over and proposed a trial run on a group barbecue for
the next Inkler Fly-in. Conrad Agte and John ___ were still around although Susan
had taken off earlier. I was still thinking that conditions might improve for
another evening flight but the gusts or dust devils continued and by 1700 we
were thinking that the flying was over. On consideration, it didn’t make sense
to drive 33 miles back toward Spokane making our trip on Monday even longer, so
we decided to take a rain check on Steve’s offer and start west as soon as we
could get packed up. It was probably after 1800 when we headed north through
Chewelah and along the Colville River valley to Colville and then Kettle Falls
where we crossed the Columbia River and entered the Colville National Forest.
In ten miles or so we found a Forest Service Campground at Canyon Creek.
There was no water or trash but there was a trail that went along the creek
which made for a pleasant walk. Plus, there were huckleberries for the picking.
We had already had dinner so we settled for a bit of dessert before bedtime in
the cool forest air.
17 Jul, Monday – We got a
reasonably early start and stopped just up the road a short distance at an old
CCC camp where a stream had been dammed to form a small lake for recreation.
More recently the silted-in lake had been undammed and the streambed made to
look natural again. We stopped at Sherman Pass CG and info, and at an
information overlook about the White Mountain fire. We stopped again in
Republic for information at the Ranger Station. Then we drove down to Tonasket
and south on 97 to Omak where we got gas (2.749). We left 97 at Okanogan and
drove over Loup Loup Pass on US 20 which appeared to have had some pretty bad
washouts that were being repaired. Hank’s Grocery in Twisp provided us with a
good buy on red cherries and ice cream cones (4). That meant we didn’t have to
worry about finding parking for the car and trailer in Winthrop. We stopped at
the overlook at Washington Pass and walked the loop trail which has wonderful
views of Liberty Bell and Early Winters Spires. Our next stop wasn’t until we
reached Burlington where we got gas at Costco (2.549) and bought some oranges
and a replacement headlamp for C.J. Traffic was surprisingly light passing
through Everett and Bellevue and we were home around 1900.
18 Jul, Tues – We attended Tai Chi
class at the Senior Center as usual. I picked a ton of berries; we’re running
out of space in the freezer already. C.J. had forgotten that there was a NWPC
meeting in the evening but we got ready to go with time to spare to pick up
Wheely at Meadowbrook where he had landed. We dropped him off at the LZ and
then got to Pogachas around 1900. Paul and Martin Palmaz were there doing a
USHPA info Q and A session on the insurance issue. In addition, Ian talked
about choosing a harness and showed some video about deploying a reserve when
there is a lot of g-force (simulator near the LZ in Annecy). After the meeting
I talked with Kim Smith about the fatal accident at Dog (he wasn’t there) and
found out that Jerry Devlin had had a serious-injury crash while landing midday
at Bremer.
19 Jul, Wed – The trailer brakes
were not working (not unusual) and showed that they were not connected
according to the Tekonsha brake controller on the trip to Inkler’s. I pulled
off the right hub and everything looked okay, but the left-side brake magnet
was totally unconnected. I checked with eTrailer.com and didn’t find magnets
available but the whole brake assembly didn’t seem to be any more expensive
than I remember the magnets to be. So, I ordered a pair. Later I managed to
remove the four fasteners that hold the brake assembly to the axle using
various wrenches including 11/16” sockets, crowfoot, and adjustable wrenches (I
don’t have any 18mm wrenches which is probably the size I need).
20 Jul, Thu – Tai Chi. A little
rain in the late morning. I finally got around to responding to a couple of
nominations for USHPA awards. There haven’t been very many this year.
