FFFF 2016

August 8-12

C.J. flying at Whaleback, Mt. Shasta

Barbara Summerhawk invited us back to southern Oregon for her “Fun, Friends, Floating, Feasting and Flying” gathering which celebrates her birthday.

8 August, Monday – We left pretty close to 0800, got gas (2.239) in Wilsonville, OR, and again in Roseburg (2.199), and arrived at the yurt around 1630. That gave us time to move our carload of stuff into the yurt and help Barbara get ready for the first feast, a fish fry for nine. Barb made a spinach salad and salmon cooked with fruit, Debbie contributed some bruchetta (even though she was off flying the glassoff at Woodrat, Tim and Christine Ammon brought some samosas with coconut chutney, and wine. Geoff was there with a friend, Colleen, from the Bay Area and so was David Blizzard. C.J. had the dessert covered with a big pan of plum cobbler with whipped cream. After dinner Christina and Dave tried to get us to sing along with their guitar and ukulele (?) – too many different generations to agree on singable songs. When it got dark enough Barbara uncovered her telescope and we had good views of the waxing crescent moon, Mars and Saturn. By 2200 it was quite cool and our sleeping bags were not too warm in the yurt.

9 Aug, Tues – Up at 0710 to cook breakfast on the deck. We noticed that we had forgotten several things we usually had with us like the big water carrier, the black plastic ladle for stirring and serving oatmeal, and dish towels (not to mention toilet paper). At 0930 we and Barb and Deb gathered at the Applegate Store with David, Marybeth and Donnetta. Marybeth rode with us to the Hog Creek boat launch on the Rogue River. There we inflated our Sevylor yellow torpedo and put it in the swift-flowing river along with the big rental raft and Donnetta’s Sevylor which Deb was borrowing. There were plenty of stretches of white water and I thought that they were pretty challenging (actually rated as Class 2-2+). We hung up on a rock in the middle of Ennis Riffle and I had to get out to lift it over the obstruction. On another one we barely missed a deep hole and got turned around; fortunately, we made it the rest of the way through without getting rolled over, but that wasn’t the only “riffle” where we took on water. We reached our takeout location at Galice about 1400 and had to wait a bit for the guide from Ferron’s Fun Floats to get there and load our raft and two others until 1430. That gave us time to deflate our two kayaks. Ferron drove us all back to Hog Creek where we discussed where we would go for

David, Barbara, Marybeth, Donetta

the feast of the day. No one was keen to go back to the Galice Store where we had eaten last year. The local places in Applegate (Peace of Pizza, and a trailer parked next to the Applegate Store) weren’t open on Monday-Tuesday, or so we thought. The locals thought the Taprock, an upscale restaurant, would be a good venue if we could get seats on the deck overlooking the Rogue in Grants Pass. But there was a 15-20 min wait, too long for the instant gratification crowd, so we headed to Murphy and the Buckboard Grill. The fish tacos were a big draw for Barbara and the Happy Hour starting at 1600 had $1 tacos (fish for $2). I got a lunch special of a double burger with fries, and C.J. had three of the small “street tacos”.  We wouldn’t need any dinner. We left around 1645 and Debbie and Donnetta left from the Applegate Store to fly the evening glassoff. Marybeth checked with Dan and he thought it was too north and strong to be fun. So we went back to the yurt to dry out our gear and visit with Barbara. Later C.J. went up to the cabin to watch the Olympics coverage with Barb and Deb.

Floaters at Hog Creek Boat Launch

10 Aug, Wed – Up after 0800, oatmeal with fresh fruit. Around 1030 we drove over to Longsword to meet Debby and Barb and Dave Blizzard. We all drove to the top in our Sorento. Conditions were unsettled  with light wind from the north, east and south, but eventually around 1245 there were some good cycles up the west launch. Barb had gone right up as soon as she launched. When I followed, it was all sink until I was halfway to Mid-Launch. Then I hit pretty strong lift and climbed to 4200 or so. Lift was not smooth so I took a line heading for Longsword and hit lift along the way near the base of Squires Pk. I tried going north to lower Rabe’s Ridge but there was no lift along the way. Barb had already landed in the alfalfa field west of Longsword at 12 min into my flight. I found scattered lift and enough to circle in just south of LS. After I lost that, I worked my way down, a little too far down because I landed a ways east of the tasting room at LS and had to kite my wing to a place that wasn’t rife with star thistle (0:22). C.J. and Dave got to do a bunch of turns together and Deb got to 5500 or so, near Rabe’s in turbulent air. After we all packed up Debbie gave us a ride to retrieve our vehicle from the top. We ate the PB and jelly sandwiches then started back down. We took the long way around on Sterling Creek Rd and Little Applegate passing through the ghost town of Buncom. Once we got back to the yurt C.J. grabbed her computer and went over to Geoff and Teri’s to download the articles that needed editing. I joined her there and read through the three articles she had edited. By then it was close to 1800 so we prepared a quick dinner of pasta with fresh veggies and parmesan cheese so that we wouldn’t be too late for the poetry reading and Winged Migration video at Red Lily winery. Barbara did a good job as the emcee and the movie, on a large screen, was good, particularly after the sun went down and the contrast was better. Deb had posted on the RVHPA website that we were interested in going down to Whaleback (site near Mt Shasta) and Dan and Marybeth said that they would join us. Apparently there have been several folks down there and the flying has been everything from exceptional to terrifying. We planned to pack up Thursday morning and get going by noon. Dan said that you should be on the launch by 1700 for the glassoff and it’s 1.5 – 2 hrs travel time down there.

11 Aug, Thu – Barbara left around 1100 planning to drive Debbie up for a flight before she headed back to Arcata; then she was going to the Applegate Partnership office to do some environmental stuff. We hung out in the shade avoiding the hot sun as the temperature climbed back into the nineties and above, normal for the Medford area. Around 1315 we left for Jacksonville to meet Dan and Marybeth. We were early so we stopped at Ray’s Supermarket for a dish of ice cream. At the Wells’, MB showed us the new retaining wall and flat area, then when Nathan arrived we loaded up and headed south.  It did take two hours plus to get to the LZ where we met Ron Andresen who has a big pickup that could carry all six of us. We were on launch around 1700 and it was a bit strong and crossed from the SW.

Mt. Shasta from Whaleback Launch, Nathan and Ron

C.J. in the Whaleback LZ, Mt. Shasta in the distance

Nathan got off, then Dan, and Ron. That left us and MB on launch so we had a chance to wait until the wind/cycles had moderated a bit. C.J. had a nice clean launch and got to climb right away, eventually getting to 9400 from the 7500’ takeoff. I set up facing more to the SW (but not too far to the south, heeding Ron’s warning to avoid the rocks that he said were stained red from his accident) and waited through some very south cycles and then a time when there was no wind. Finally, I pulled up in a decent cycle and flew off toward the LZ which looked a long way away even though it was 3000’ below. C.J. told me later that I appeared to be in a convergence as I was going up as I flew away from launch. I made a few 360s in fairly smooth lift and reached 7800’. Dan had gotten high off to the right and Ron was scratching low to the left and landed early. Nathan was up and down and eventually landed short of the LZ and had a 5-10 min. walk. I flew over the LZ with close to 2000’ and continued all the way out to Hwy 97 before turning back. The LZ was pretty active but I managed to land where I was aiming – the only shade nearby, a good place to pack up. Nathan showed up walking out of the brush and Dan landed just on the edge of the LZ. C.J. radioed wondering if there was something she didn’t know about the conditions since everyone was landing. She finally got down low enough to make a good approach and landing. Dan had some cold beer to share and Nathan had brought some cheesecake – a veritable party! On the way home we stopped at Natalee Thai Restaurant in Yreka; C.J. and I shared a yellow curry with mango and salmon (a little spicy for her). We were back at Jacksonville by 2200 and back to the yurt before 2300. Barbara was out in the yard watching the Perseid meteor shower and we joined her for a while – lots of bright streaks!

12 Aug, Fri – Barbara was going to the coast with Teri leaving at 1000; that left time to have her over for a French toast breakfast at the yurt – a good way to use up the home-baked bread that was getting a bit stale. We were out of the yurt and on down the road shortly after 1000. We stopped for $20 of ARCO gas (2.359) in Grants Pass and C.J. got some pictures of a few of the iconic GP bears. We had planned to stop at Roseburg but we hadn’t used enough gas so we stopped instead at Eugene (2.199). An accident involving two big trucks closed I-5 south of Salem at exit 242 and had us delayed for probably an hour. That put us late into Portland on a Friday afternoon. We tried to avoid the backup on I-5 approaching the Interstate Bridge by taking I-205. We may have saved 30 minutes (63 min instead of 94 min) but it was still very slow. We had had a late-ish lunch so didn’t feel like stopping at 1800 in Chehalis/Centralia. We found a Jack (in the box) in Olympia on Martin Way but the service was so slow we left before ordering. Fortunately traffic was not a problem near JBLM and we pushed on to Puyallup where we got gas at Costco (2.359) and then dropped down into the city to eat at Five Guys next to Fred Meyers - good burger, fries and shake. We got home shortly after 2100 for an eleven-hour trip, even worse than the return from the last Rat Race on a Sunday. Still, we both felt it was worth it considering all the experiences we had – flying at Whaleback and Woodrat, floating the Rogue, feasting at the Buckboard, the fish fry and the Thai place, and visiting with the pilots and other friends.

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.

Memorial Service for TJ Olney

23 July 2016

While C.J. and I were volunteering at Chelan we heard rumors of a fatality at Blanchard. At first there was talk that it might have been a female pilot. Later we heard it was a male pilot, and still later, that it was TJ. Specifics of the accident were scarce since no pilot had seen the event. A non-pilot witness reported that “over half of “ TJ’s wing had collapsed and that he was low on the spine between the west and south launches. Too low for a reserve and not enough trees to catch his wing, TJ hit the ground hard. The witness reached him quickly but TJ died soon after, long before the EMTs could get there. An autopsy determined that he had suffered a burst aorta.

TJ’s funeral was on Monday, 18 July, but we had just returned from a week of camping at Chelan and could not get ready for a trip to Bellingham so soon. However, the pilot community, mostly NCSC the local chapter, put together a celebration of TJ’s life on Saturday the 23^rd at Samish Viewpoint, aka Blanchard launch. We followed the request of the organizers and parked at Jeff and Stacy’s and got a ride up with our wings. From the number of cars filling the small parking lot and crowding the sides of the road, not many other pilots had carpooled from the Beck’s. The one DNR picnic table was supplemented by several folding tables and there were lots of potluck food, notably some good baked beans and several large sub sandwiches cut into slices. C.J. had brought a basket of blueberry-lemon muffins, one of the few other homemade goodies. Before lunch, however, Conrad Kurp led the service which featured several people speaking of their memories of TJ.

 

After lunch pilots began to launch into what looked like a perfect flying day – blue sky with puffy clouds and light wind from the SW. Soon hangs and paras were soaring. Conditions looked pretty benign (although I did see some pretty good surges), so C.J. and I joined the line for launch. I got off on my first inflation and found lift right off launch. I went right and found strong thermals that took me to over 1600ft from the 1200 ft takeoff. I went back along the clearcut and then found it somewhat slow to come back to the west launch again. When I crossed the spine toward the south launch I ran into strong and turbulent lift which I did not try to work. I went back to the right and stayed between 1100 and 1400 ft occasionally getting tip collapses and surges. After around 25 minutes I had had enough especially as I flew through the air above the spine again and got the washing-machine treatment. Out over the east end of the LZ I ran into enough lift to turn once but there were other wings approaching the field so I did not try to climb away from the LZ. The windsock seemed to be showing E as I came in on final but landing to the south and a bit west seemed to work fine (:32). Later C.J. came out after 30 minutes or so and at 195 ft ran into lift which Chris Ammonson had marked and climbed back up to 2400 ft drifting east and having an unusual view of the Oyster Dome from above and to the south. After an hour and some C.J. landed. I got a ride back to Beck’s with Beth and Ernie (and Guy) to pick up our vehicle. C.J. and Patricia passed me as I was heading for the LZ. I think they were giving Steve Thibault a ride to get his car at launch. Later, Patricia said conditions looked good but didn’t launch as she felt rushed because they had to get home to meet Andrey and Sabrina to loan them their kayaks. We went with CJB, Derek, and Laura-from-Mexico to the Old Edison Inn where we were joined by Chris and Patricia. C.J. and I shared a ½-lb Bow Burger and a side Caesar salad.

In addition to the people I mentioned there were lots whom I did not know. But there were a few more: the Becks, Tom Allen, Sid, Murdoch and Jan, Guy and Rita, James Pfiser, Jenn Kaatz, Emma Dionisio, Herta, Roger Brock, Casey (woodcarver, HG), Jaro, and Ralph Boirum with his new wife.

2016 Paragliding National Championship at Chelan

8-17 July 2016

Launching on Green Monster is often a challenge

(all photos from CXCC 2015, by D. Masuda)

Matty Senior had asked C.J. and me while we were on his trip in Thailand to help out for a few days at the PG Nationals he was running in July. We said that we’d be there. As the date approached, the weather was looking iffy but we figured that with the trailer to sleep and cook in, we could survive a few days in Chelan. It turned out that there weren’t as many volunteers as had been expected so we stayed for the whole meet. One strange thing was that the weather was unusually cool for Chelan in July, and we had two days with some rain.

8 July, Fri – We left early enough to get to Beebe Bridge Campground before noon (checkout time was 1300) so we could snag a campsite. We weren’t terribly surprised to see the “Camp Area Full” sign; we had seen that before and there had been sites available. This time all sites really were full. We pulled into one of the sites Matty had reserved the day before. But before we had even started setting up C.J. found someone who was leaving anyway and who wouldn’t mind getting out of our way so we could park in the pull-thru. Later Chris Ammonson moved his tent over to share the site with us. After setting up we paid ($20/night for the State Disabled Veteran passholders, $30 otherwise) for 4 nights and went up to HQ to see if we were needed for anything. Since there was nothing for us to do we went to the Chelan Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center and picked up some pamphlets on local hikes. One was way up near Twisp but it was in the area between Lake Chelan and the Methow where we had never been before. So even though it was kind of late, we drove up to Twisp and then northeast along the Twisp River approx. 24 miles to the Twisp Pass Trail. The trail was good and the hike pleasant although there were no wide views until we had gone more than two miles, crossed the N Fork of the Twisp River and climbed up onto a rocky area, about 2½ or 3 miles from the trailhead parking lot. There was a steady gain of elevation from 3600 to about 4700 ft. We saw patches of snow on the mountainside to our south and snowy peaks west of Twisp Pass (another couple of miles farther). It was well after dinnertime by the time we reached the car and we decided to catch a burger in Twisp at a saloon and café. The food was surprisingly good, which was fortunate because there did not appear to be many other choices even on a Friday night. Despite stopping for an hour for food (and 99-cent cherries at the local grocery) it was still light by the time we reached Beebe. Chris and Patricia were not there yet and we did not hear them arrive around midnight.

CJ(B) and C.J.

9 July, Sat – Practice day with no task and no retrieve. We had breakfast in camp with Chris and Patricia then drove up to help out on launch. Back down in town we hung out and had lunch at the Beebe Springs Natural Area. There were some interesting large iron sculptures of Native Americans. Then we went to the Visitors Center to help set up for the pilots meeting at 1900. We had the VC reserved starting at 1800 but pilots were filling up the place an hour earlier since flying had not been great. The organizers provided chips and salsa and at least one keg of local beer (Stormy Mountain Brewery). After the meeting we helped take all the chairs down and then went back to camp for dinner – well, maybe not exactly dinner. But C.J. had brought her famous blueberry pie and needed to get enough people together to eat it at one sitting. Susan, CJB, Derek, Laura and Jerry (from Mexico), Josh and Michelle, Francisco Henriquez, Brian Franklin, Alderik, and maybe a few others brought stuff to eat and drink to our picnic table and we ended up having enough.

10 July, Sun – First comp day. But it was windy and there was a strong possibility of rain so the task was canceled. Susan proposed a potluck party at her place 25 miles away in Orono. We rode over with Chris and brought something(?), bread and maybe a fruit salad, but there was plenty of other things to eat. CJB had made a lasagna, Frank had brought his barbecue grill and people had brought meat. Federico Wood from Venezuela and Frank from Argentina did a nice job cooking the meat. Tom Ceunen was there with his semi-official daily Nats video. Federico had a trailer for the movie he and his team are making about a year-long adventure in Africa and ? Bruce Goldsmith and his son, Tyr, were there (I think, although I hadn’t yet met him).

G with a neck cooler

11 July, Mon – The first task was a doozy! Since the wind was forecast to be from the west all day, the task committee sent the competitors pretty much straight west with turnpoints at WTHPIX and DRYFAL, and goal at the Davenport airport. Heather convinced us to drive out there so there would be someone to welcome the pilots into goal. So, after we finished helping get everyone launched, we drove the 2+ hours to Davenport. At Wilbur we stopped to wait in the shade while we checked XCFind, a livetracking program for the Spot and DeLorme satellite trackers. That showed us that some, at least, were likely to make it to goal. So we drove through Creston and found the airport in Davenport. We were the only ones there besides a few locals working on their planes in a nearby hangar. We hadn’t seen anyone in the sky or on XCFind but suddenly we got a radio call from a pilot who was approaching and did not see anyone at the goal. Josh Cohn was first in (He hadn’t turned his DeLorme on so we didn’t know he was close.), followed by Francisco Montares (winner of this year’s Rat Race) and Robert Vandenbegine(?) from The Netherlands. It was pretty gusty and Francisco got dragged a bit, even getting his reserve parachute pulled out of its container. The pilots were excited to have made the task but wanted their “goal beer” so I ran into the nearby Safeway and got beer and Gatorade. By the time I had returned, two more had landed and Matty had arrived with the official beer. He still paid for the drinks I had bought (and previously, he had paid for the campsite fees as well). We jammed three guys and their wings into the back of the Sorento and headed back sometime after 1830 – goal closed at 1900. We passed at least three guys (including Mike Steed and Cody Mittanck) within 30 miles or so of goal. And last we had heard, Chris was still in the air. (Yay!) Back at camp we cooked up some spaghetti for dinner and saved some for when Chris returned late.

12 Jul, Tue – The task was canceled after the launch window was opened but within an hour. People were already packing up as the first raindrops fell. Later it stopped raining and a number of people free-flew. We bought a rotisserie chicken at WalMart and shared it with Chris for dinner.

13 Jul, Wed – Task 3 sent the pilots in a new direction across Lake Chelan to Fourth of July Mountain, then to the Airport and up the Columbia and beyond to Omak.

14 July, Thu – Task 4 was Butte to Withrow, then exit from a 10 km cylinder around Withrow, back to Withrow, then Farmer, then north to Leahy and east to H17BRK. Lots of pilots got stuck on the rim. Brian F., for example, spent two hours soaring in front of and above and below the pyramid houses before giving up and landing in the soccer field.

15 July, Fri – The BIG day: Once again the wind was pretty strong from the west so the task committee called a long task to the small town of Fairfield almost at the Idaho border - about 228km with the turnpoint at Odessa (6km cyl). Almost exactly half of the pilots made the goal, an amazing accomplishment for a task that is the longest ever called at a PG comp. Among others, Chris made it so we didn’t wait dinner for him. I think we just grabbed a sandwich at Safeway.

16 July, Sat – Originally, Saturday was not looking like a good flying day but it cleared up and a “barbecue task” was called keeping pilots and drivers relatively close to Chelan. Early on Mike Steed caught a downdraft on the edge of a cloud, had his wing collapse irretrievably and had to throw his reserve. He was right over the Butte so we all got a good view of his bright red reserve as it dropped him down to the north of the towers. The task was a 2km exit from the Butte, Bump-in-the-road, south to Douglas (east of Farmer), north to the Airport and then to goal at the soccer field. After getting everyone launched C.J. and I hung out at the soccer field and ate lunch. We didn’t have long to wait before the first pilots began to arrive. All was going well until Brad Gunnuscio took a collapse close to the ground and hit pretty hard. He got up but complained of ankle pain and then back pain. Someone must have called 911 because soon we had four emergency vehicles. [Brad had no med insurance so refused an ambulance ride to the hospital, but after Zak, our safety director, checked him over, his friend offered to pay for the diagnostics and he went to the hospital. He must have been okay because he was at the awards ceremony and dinner later.] Lots of pilots made it to goal again. We went back to camp for showers and then around 1730 went out to the airport where the party was to be held (next to the SkyDive Chelan hangar) to help set up. There wasn’t much to do apart from setting up a few chairs. C.J. laid out the awards on a table in front of a big banner. There were lots of bottles and cans and two kegs of Stormy Mountain porter and IPA. The cold water ran out early though. Matty did a good job announcing winners and handing out the trophies. Afterward there was a raffle for some really good prizes – Bruce Goldsmith had donated a paraglider (!) [Susan won], Matty and Graham had given a trip to Thailand including airfare [Owen’s girlfriend Maggie got that], two DeLorme SEs, lots of wine (we got three bottles and two big ciders, and a T-shirt). While I’m writing about prizes, I should mention that Matty treated the volunteers really well. He provided a lunch every day and gave most of us a nice, small Ozone backpack. At the pilots meeting on the Butte each morning he had prizes for the winning pilots but also gifts for the volunteers. We got probably the most valuable gift – two punch cards for the Tiger Shuttle [Thank you, Michael, for donating those!].  The Overall winner was Josh Cohn with Jared Anderson from Woodrat next and Brad G third. Jared became the US National Champion (since Josh had not competed in the other comp that determined national standing – the Rat Race), Tyr Goldsmith was the Sport Class winner and his father, Bruce, took third place. Igor Tolsky (CAN) was second. [I guess those new BGD gliders are pretty good.] Bianca is the Women’s National Champion, first US pilot out of the ten women who competed. [Kari Ellis from AUS was first, Nicole McLearn from CAN was third.] While there were dark clouds all around, the weather held for the dinner (catered by Chelan Catering Kitchen, and very good) and the awards ceremony. But during the night it rained pretty hard…

17 Jul, Sun – …and was still raining in the morning so we got up relatively late. Chris took us out to breakfast with Patricia at Riverwalk Inn. It was really good and not just because it was a nice break from oatmeal and fruit again. By the time we got back to camp it was clearing off and there were sunbreaks. We packed up and drove down to Lone Pine Fruit and Espresso (and ice cream, which we had indulged in on two afternoons). We bought a box of peaches and Chris and Patricia got a box of apricots, then we shared them so we each had half a box of each. We stopped to get gas near Wenatchee while Chris and Patricia were getting more fruit (real Bing cherries) at their favorite fruit stand just south of the roundabout. Since the weather looked too unstable in the mountains for hiking we stopped at Peshastin Pinnacles State Park for a scramble up the north side of the crags and down a ridge. Next time we’ll have to try the more well-beaten switchbacks on the south side. There were hardly any other climbers or hikers there – strange for a Sunday. We found out where everyone was later when we hit I-90 – they were all on the road. It took an extra hour at least to get home in the slow traffic. We got home just at 1800 and picked some blueberries for Chris and Patricia before waving goodbye.

Matty and Graham did a great job organizing and running the 2016 Paragliding Nationals. Teague Block of Lake Rider Sports provided the headquarters at 510 Woodin Ave, along with his local connections. Roger Brock was the volunteer coordinator. Tom Keefer kept the vehicles (mostly vans purchased via craigslist by Matty) staffed with volunteer drivers, and Susan Brockway’s many jobs included matching up vans-and-drivers with landed pilots using XCFind. [This year each retrieve van had a DeLorme InReach in addition to a radio and cellphone. General communications also were carried out using WhatsApp which required connection to mobile data or Wi-Fi.] She also oversaw the lunches for the volunteers and did the checklist for launching pilots. Zak was the launch and safety director and we worked with him fluffing wings. There were no serious accidents – hopefully Brad is not badly hurt – but there were three or four parachute deployments. The Nationals team is already considering whether to do another one next year or the year after.

Rat Race - 2016

17-24 June 2016

Photo by Gabriel Schwarzmann

This is the fourteenth year for this paragliding competition held at Woodrat Mountain in southern Oregon near Medford. C.J. has been to all of them and I've been to most (missed a few due to work). I think, however, that this is the first year that C.J. has really been participating rather than competing. Her back was giving her trouble so she decided that her goal would be to fly as long as possible until she was no longer comfortable, then land at the Longsword Winery where most of the goals were located anyway. It worked out well for her. I went along as a volunteer as usual; I helped "fluff" wings on launch and kept the garbage cans from overflowing at the headquarters, Gail and Mike Hailey's house in Ruch. Gabriel Schwarzmann took our picture just inside the door to HQ (left). This was the second year in a row that all eight days of the meet were flyable. However, I did little flying during the middle of the day and our busy schedule did not allow much opportunity for flying the evening glassoff, either.

17 Jun, Friday - left at 0830, stopped for gas and a McDonald's mocha frappe in Roseburg. Got to RR HQ shortly after 1700, in time for the volunteer meeting. On the way down Barbara had called to say that it was going to be cold and that Teri and Geoff had offered us a room for the night. We picked up a couple slices of pizza and a small container of chicken salad at the Ruch Store and heated the pizza up in the microwave at Teri's. They were out to dinner and didn't get back until around 2200. Barb stopped in to visit after her meditation group.

18 Jun, Saturday - We went over to the yurt to cook oatmeal for breakfast then headed for HQ for the 0930 meeting. It was cold, as expected. We rode up to launch with David Le in the big, white van he was driving and I helped "fluff" wings for the 31 superclinic students, the Race and the Sprint (and probably a bunch of free-flyers, as well, including CC and Cathy who were there to fly tandem). I drove a truck down to Longsword for a hang glider pilot since it was windy and I didn't want to fly. David picked me up as promised and we returned to the HQ. It was pretty early and both C.J. and I were glad when the staff put out some chips and salsa to snack on. C.J. had had some problem with getting the new message on her Delorme InReach and worked with Eric ? to figure out what had to be done. After the big pilots meeting there was a baked potato buffet and I served the cheese sauce, sausage gravy and sausage bits. There was also a big salad bar and then brownies for dessert. A couple of volunteers helped me with emptying the HQ garbage cans, much appreciated.

Pilot Meeting on Woodrat Launch, C.J. is near center right

19 Jun, Sunday - We shared breakfast with Chris and went in early enough so that C.J. could get connected to the inadequate internet at HQ and download the update for her Delorme. After another relatively short pilots meeting we waited until the school bus arrived to take us to launch. It was warmer on launch on Sunday, but not t-shirt weather. I fluffed until everyone had launched and then thought about flying. However, when I was ready there was a big gaggle of pilots sinking out over Hunter's. And then, when they started to climb, it got somewhat windy on launch. Most of the Superclinic people who had considered relaunching packed up instead. David Le asked me to drive the white van down so he could fly. I took a load down and hung out at HQ until the Hunter Charity Dinner at 1715 prepared by the local RVHPA. Later I got some help with garbage duty and took a shower. C.J. had attended a mentoring session by local pilot Jared about flying in the Woodrat area. We got back to the yurt around 2030 and C.J. took a bath and I just loafed around reading.

20 Jun, Mon – I wasn’t on duty for fluffing so I flew. I got a ride back up with the Superclinic van. David Le asked me to take over driving the white van, at least down to HQ. I took the few people who didn’t want to launch, including Lori Dirks. Later, A lot of people wanted to fly glassoff so I got in line for the available transportation. Thanks to some generous pilot, we got to use his truck – the white van and the Civil van were full. At launch the conditions were light and crossed from the north. A couple of people launched to the west but they barely made it around to the north side. Kari took off from the sketchy north launch and stayed on the north eventually getting up to the upper launch. A bunch of folks gave up on the midlaunch and went to the top where people were getting high. I stayed until 1915 or so  then gave up and got a ride down in the Civil van. Gail opened the kitchen long enough to get me a meat patty and all the fixin's.

21 Jun, Tuesday – Up late at 0715 since we didn’t have to be at the HQ until shortly before 0900 when the Penske truck was scheduled to leave for launch with our wings. Oatmeal with mango for a change. At launch I helped launch the Super Clinic students and since they seemed to be soaring in friendly air, I took off at 1250. Almost all launches were from the north launch. I managed to get up over launch by about 400 feet then I headed off toward Rabes Ridge. I had a couple of tip collapses, so apparently the air wasn’t as smooth as it had appeared. I got to the Ridge at about the level of the M/W tower, too low to catch any good lift. I turned back to Hunters and landed short of the upper field, but it was only a short walk to the gate. I packed up in the oak shade just outside the fence. I didn’t have long to wait for a ride up as Sonia showed up with a big pickup truck. Julie and I rode up in the back and talked about our trips to Colombia. [I had launched right after Julie and landed just a moment before her.] The Sprint group was already launching when I got to the launch. C.J. was near the end of the line and the wind switched just as she was ready to go. She went over to the west launch and got off on her second inflation (video on phone). I hung around a while longer helping the Superclinic and hiding out in the shade from the broiling sun. Around 1600 I drove HG Orv’s truck down to the HQ. C.J. had flown to Burnt, Rabes and then, with her back aching, landed at Longsword. It took a while before she got a ride back to HQ, just before I sent her a text asking if she needed a ride. Back at HQ I finished the re-install of my Microsoft Office, probably a waste of time as I have to return this computer to get a new motherboard so that the “sleep” power option will work. Dinner at Red Lily winery at 1830. I had a glass of Red Lily Cuvee and C.J had a Blood Orange Ale (10). The dinner of tri-tip, pulled pork, pork ribs and chicken was very good (15).

Sprint task board for 22 Jun

22 Jun, Wed – We went in a bit early but got up later. The RVHPA members cooked breakfast for all the pilots and volunteers. Unfortunately, it wasn’t well advertised and maybe only 50 [out of the 100 Race and Sprint, 31 Superclinic and maybe 25 volunteers] showed up for the breakfast of eggs, pancakes and sausage patty. We went up on the school bus; I took my wing even though I didn’t expect to fly. I helped out with launching and late in the afternoon I drove the Civil van down with Ken Hudonjorgenson and a few superclinic students. [Four parachute deployments today – the air must have been pretty rough. C.J. flew well, though, completing several of the turnpoints including Mt. Isabella and landing at Longsword.] Back at HQ C.J. and I ate the hamburger-hotdog with salad. I had been thinking about flying the glassoff but it turned out to be too windy (probably). We went back to the yurt and visited with Barbara talking some about the proposed trip to Japan in November.

23 Jun, Thu – After oatmeal with mango and pear we drove in around 0800 to HQ. We checked the scores and C.J. was right in the middle of the group at 26^th place; she was second in the list of women sprint pilots. We rode up on the school bus as usual. There wasn’t anything to do for a volunteer so when C.J. suggested I fly with Michelle and Janie, I started getting ready. The whole group of superclinic students seemed to be getting ready at the same time. I launched at 1100 and found lift out in front which took me to over 4000 ft. Then I pushed across to the M/W tower and came in above it; there was lift as usual and I was able to climb up onto Rabe’s Ridge and then to 5300 in strong (1070 fpm) lift. There were clouds above me but they did not look like the kind that suck you up, nevertheless, I headed to Baldy and arrived above the top and burbled along almost to the Burnt turnpoint. Then I turned south and flew to Mid and then thought about going to Longsword where Kari had reported being at 5400. But there wasn’t any help from thermals as I flew in the direction so I turned back and landed at Hunters (0:35). Michelle and Janie were already packed up. I got a ride back up to launch after dropping off my wing at HQ. C.J. was just getting ready to launch and later I saw her in the gaggle and then forging ahead as the Start window opened. I rode down with Tony from Alberta and ? to HQ. I grabbed a shower while it wasn’t busy (and was still working) then started to record my flight. C.J. called to say she had landed off the main road but only 7 km from the goal at Donato’s. I headed over there with her coordinates but the GPS would not show a road route to her location – apparently the roads/driveways were newer than the GPS database. I tried the car Garmin and Google Maps on my phone but no luck. Finally I hooked up the mobile 2m radio and called her on 146.55Mhz. That lessened some of the frustration but did not get me any closer. Finally she asked the landowner and he gave me his address and directions. It turned out that the access was off Dark Hollow Road and not Pioneer where I was. It was easy then to find the landowner’s driveway which had a couple of big temporary signs (5305). C.J. got a ride out to the road and we headed back via Jacksonville so we could get gas. Unfortunately the one local station was out of regular unleaded; fortunately the pilot we picked up along the road bought us ice cream at Ray’s Market. Back at HQ C.J. uploaded her tracklog and I emptied the garbage cans. Dinner at Longsword  was tacos prepared by a new vendor that Gail was trying out. There were three kinds of seasoned meat, refried beans, Spanish rice and a foil packet of warm 4-inch flour tortillas and a drink (beer or wine) was included (not a small thing since a glass of wine at Longsword usually costs $8). We got back about the same time Barbara did.

24 Jun, Fri – Breakfast and on to HQ, up on the school bus. I hung out waiting for people to start launching then helped fluff wings. Everyone was off by 1300. I drove Sam’s van down to HQ, took a shower and waited to see if C.J. would make it to goal at Donato’s. Nope, she called and said the air had been ugly and she had made a couple of turnpoints but did not want to go way in to Sugar so she landed (to the east!) at Longsword. I went into West Medford to get gas at the Mobil station near Albertson’s – it was a couple miles farther than Jacksonville but the price was 20 cents per gallon cheaper. I bought enough to get us to Roseburg, about 100 miles. C.J. was back by the time I returned but she had misplaced her phone. We looked in her wing pack which was under a pile of wings in the Penske truck with no luck. Then we drove over to Longsword and it was still on the arm of a chair where she must have left it. We hung out there with David Blizzard, Wendy and Kari Castle and David bought us a Fentiman’s Ginger Beer which was good. It was 1630 by then so we went back to the HQ so C.J. could get a shower before we went to the Upper Humbug Fish Fry that Barb, Teri and Geoff were doing for us. Chris arrived a bit late but the corn took a little longer to roast on the charcoal grill anyway. Teri roasted the salmon fillets that Barbara bought at Albertson’s, and there was a kale salad with some lettuce, chopped cashews and nutritional yeast. We brought over our bottle of heavy cream to whip for topping for Teri’s peach and blackberry cobbler. I asked Barbara to take a look at what I was planning to do with the cracked doorstep of the yurt. After cleaning out the crack we were able to clamp it almost closed; maybe putting glue in the crack before we put tighten the clamps and screws will help hold it together. Someone had tried just glue and that had not worked.

RR banner and Ninkasi beer trailer

25 Jun, Sat – Last day of the Rat. I flew early, at 1100, and I still had a big tip collapse. I got up above launch out over the Mid-ridge and tried to go to Rabe’s. I reached the M/W just at the top of the tower and didn’t feel good about flying beyond it, especially as I looked back and saw how far away the bailout LZ was. I made it back into the lower field (NW quadrant) and had a walk to get to the gate. I packed up in the shade then got a ride up with Laura in her Sprinter van with motorcycle and surfboard inside, and Jamie who lives at The Crash Pad. I was in plenty of time to help with launching the Race and Sprint pilots. I drove Sam’s van back to HQ. C.J. called and had had a good flight and had landed in goal (but without completing the course). I drove over to Longsword to pick her up and brought back Jug, also. As dinnertime approached, Gail put out the usual chips and salsa but also a pork pate’ and a tapenade and some other interesting snacks. Dinner was not lasagna this year.

Trophies and local wine prizes

There were big pans of teriyaki chicken, pork and beef. I was serving pulled pork on the second shift. In addition, there were vegetables, Hawaiian rolls and salads. Later, after the awards ceremony there were two big sheet cakes and strawberry shortcake. C.J. was just 37 points out of third place for the Sprint women even though she had been flying only for personal goals, not the whole course. Owen Shoemaker took second for the Race even after having to deploy his reserve on the last day (as did three of the six top finishers. Francisco Montares from Argentina took the top place, Andy McCrae third. After emptying garbage a final time, C.J. and I went back to the yurt.

26 Jun, Sun – After breakfast we moved some furniture and pulled the rug back from the door of the yurt so I could drill holes in the threshold/doorsill with the pockethole drill bit. Chris put the two large clamps on (the other two I brought were not big enough) and closed up the crack after we liberally doused it with waterproof wood glue. I put in five 2½ inch x 8 screws. Hopefully that will hold it together. If not, then next year (or August, if we go to the FFFF) I’ll bring 3-in x 10 screws and more clamps. We started home around 1030, stopped for gas in Roseburg (2.229), a frappe’ in Vancouver and gas again in Tumwater (2.459). It took more than ten hours due to slow traffic on I-5 here and there. Just north of Olympia (exit 111) we got off and took a detour through Yelm, Roy and back to SR 512 to avoid a jam that stretched to Mounts Road (near JBLM). It may not have been any faster but it was interesting and saved on wear and tear due to frustration in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Home around 2030.

Blanchard Bash 2016

3-5 June 2016

C.J. and I have tried to attend the combination DNR Trails Day work party and Blanchard Fly-in every year. This year, unusually, Blanchard did not provide soarable conditions on any of the three days we were there. However, there was good flying at Sumas on Friday as reported by David Le, as well as at Black. Then on Saturday we went with a bunch of paragliders to Black and it was again good with people flying for as long as they wanted and landing in the usual group camp LZ and the larger field across the road from the main entrance to Silver Lake County Park. [Some non-participant pilots launched from Sauk the same day, got up to 11,000 ft along the way and flew all the way across the North Cascades to Mazama!] Sunday was just too hot for us to want to repeat the hour-long trip to Black (and there was the hassle of not having a key), so we headed home early. 

3 Jun, Fri – We left around 1000 with the trailer and didn’t stop for gas in Burlington as we usually do, figuring that we wouldn’t be driving much farther than the launch and LZ at Blanchard. Stacey directed us to our own private site between some trees, leaving the larger spaces for people with large RVs. [Thanks Stacey, for taking time out from prom preparations to be a gracious hostess!]

After getting set up and visiting with some of the locals we rode up to launch with Jan and Murdoch. Conditions looked “OK” but there was some north to the wind. I pulled my wing up and had to abort, and then C.J. managed a forward inflation and launch. But as soon as she got out beyond the trees, it was clear that there was some pretty strong north. She got rock-and-rolled and turned for the LZ. And later she reported that it was strong west, and she had to maneuver herself into a position from which she would not be dragged into the briars and/or RR tracks if she didn’t get her wing collapsed (which she did neatly). I stood on launch a bit but C.J.’s radio report convinced me to pack up. Jan did, too, and we drove back to Beck’s where I got the Sorento and went down to pick up C.J. Tom Lake was there with his French bulldog, along with Jud. No one beside us had been on launch. We hung out around camp the rest of the afternoon and evening, greeting new arrivals as they pulled in. Shawn Lucke, pres of the NCSC, was there so we paid our $25 fly-in donation to him. This year we didn’t go to the Chuckanut Manor for the Friday buffet because we had already done an out-to-eat at the Coho in Issaquah. Instead, we had the rest of our Zucchizza and a salad.

4 Jun, Sat – We got up around 0700 and had breakfast early enough that we could get to the usual meeting place for the DNR work party. As usual there were juice, coffee, various kinds of snack-y bars, fruit, and pastries. I counted about 60 volunteers of which more than 40 were pilots or spouses. Up at the launch we were going to spread out the limbs from three or four felled trees to the left of the new, graded and grassy west launch. But for some reason the trees had not been bucked or limbed. So we ended up just weedwhacking, mowing and generally cleaning up the overlook area. Yaro and I helped David make a tree disappear; he had cut a tallish evergreen that was just to the right of the flight path from the south launch. After that I took a break while helping Paul install additional roll holders for the TP in the rest rooms.

Samish Overlook DNR Work Party - Delvin, C.J., Nancy (By Bonita H)

 By noon we were finished and people were thinking about flying. Hangs were probably going to Lookout and some paras were talking up Black. Fortunately the lunch preparation had gotten an early start so we were able to eat some burgers and brats prepared on Guy’s Bar-B-Choo, plus some salads and desserts. We took David Le with us and headed for the 1400 rendezvous at the LZ with CC and Cathy following. At Silver Lake we loaded CC and Cathy in with us and followed Delvin’s carload up the decent gravel road to the 4600-ft launch. The last mile of the road had some pretty serious waterbars, but only a dozen of them. Conditions looked good and the first person off soared so most people got ready to launch. CC and Cathy flew tandem and went way to the right out of sight, but when we next spotted them they were above the top of the ridge to the north. CC said they had reached 2000 ft over launch. By the time almost everyone had taken off I had decided not to fly so we wouldn’t have to come all the way back up to retrieve just my vehicle. [There were five vehicles, and all but mine had drivers.] It was a half hour down to the red gate at the Mt. Baker Hwy and then another 2.25 mi to Maple Falls. C.J. had landed in the big field, David also. Rick Lai was there with another pilot and wanted to go up to fly but there were no keyholders who wanted to go back up. A call to Jeff Beck gave Delvin permission to loan Jeff’s key to Rick. [Later we heard that they launched around 1930 and had extended sledders.] I stopped in B’ham at Safeway to get some gas (2.549) and then returned to the gathering at the Becks for the salmon and chicken BBQ with potluck salads and desserts (C.J. had brought a big zucchini-chocolatechip-spice cake). The large bonfire with last season’s dried-out Christmas tree on top produced a lot of light and heat, which really was not needed this year.

"Bonbonfire" by Bonita Hobson

5 Jun, Sun – Thinking that folks would want to travel in order to fly, Jeff started the pancake, scrambled eggs, and sausage breakfast early, sometime after 0800. I would have liked to get in a flight but the thought of driving all the way back to Black (about an hour) and waiting until conditions got good later while baking in the unseasonably hot weather was daunting. After waffling for a while and consulting with Chris and Patricia (who had been at Sauk on Saturday) we decided to look one last time at Blanchard launch (we saw a para and two student hangs launch and go directly to the LZ) and then head home early. At least we didn’t have a lot of late Sunday traffic to contend with. We stopped at Costco Burlington to fill-up (2.399) and were home by 1600, giving us plenty of time to unpack and get showers to cool off. Later we heard from Chris, Patricia, Beth and Ernie that flying at Black was not as good as it had been on Saturday.