11-15 August
Paula, C.J.'s best friend since kindergarten, invited us to stop by while she and her family were gathering in Yachats for a week. Accepting that invitation made it possible to also continue on to Woodrat to fly and visit with Barbara Summerhawk, home from Japan for summer break.
11 Aug, Tues. - We took the Trooper so we could carry all of our toys, well, at least the paragliders and inflatable kayak, as well as our camping gear. The route we decided on was down I-5 to Corvallis, then west to the coast where the temperature was considerably cooler. C.J. got to spend time with Paula and I went out for a walk on the rocky shore with Stephen, Courtney, Heather and her boy, Sylvan. After a great organic meal by Heather, we hung out for a while and C.J. got to show a couple of her scrapbooks to Paula. There were lots of beds in "Angels' Rest" (?) and we got to use a futon on the front porch, very comfortable after the hot weather we had been having in North Bend.
12 Aug, Wed - It was foggy and raining in the morning and we did not rush right out the door but when we did head down the road, the skies gradually cleared and we had a pleasant lunch on the jetty at Bandon. At Gold Beach we crossed the mouth of the Rogue and stopped for gas and a DQ Blizzard before heading inland. The route here took us off the beaten track and on to mostly paved Forest Service roads following the Rogue River up and over Bear Camp Summit. We came back out of the forest near Gallice where we had started our float on the Rogue last year. We got to Barbara's cabin and yurt too late to go flying but had a nice visit with her and her neighbors, Teri and Megan.
13 Aug, Thu.- Strangely for August in southern Oregon, it was pretty cold at night and we had piled on the quilt, down comforter and a fleece blanket. Weather looked sort of good for flying so we drove to the top of Woodrat with Barbara and a couple other locals. A group of Californians from the Bay Area were launching and flying but not getting high. C.J. and Barbara launched and flew but I decided it din't look that good so I drove down thus saving us a retrieve. We had lunch along the Applegate at Cantrell Buckley county park then drove out to the boat launch on Applegate reservoir. The inflatable kayak went together pretty quickly and we paddled it across the lake (with the usual difficulty in keeping it going on a straight course), along the far shore, then back to the boat launch. We met Barbara back at the yurt and took her for dinner at the River Ranch Restaurant in Applegate (get the red oak smoked mushrooms for an appetizer, but don't expect fast service). Afterward we drove back into Ruch to attend the Rogue Valley Hang and Para Assoc. meeting at the Fiasco Winery. There was a good turnout and business was efficiently conducted by Paul.
14 Aug Fri - Even though the forecast was for east winds we went back to Woodrat launch. People were taking off from the north launch but it was still pretty east. We stuck around quite a while but eventually gave it up and drove down. Barbara took us to lunch at Eve's Garden, a cafe in Applegate where Teri was working and waited on our table. After a delicious lunch Barbara suggested a hike so we drove to a trailhead on Slagle Creek and climbed steadily to a ridgetop on the Enchanted Forest trail. The slow pace on the return downhill probably accounted for the lack of pain in my knee. We cooked up an omettata to share with Barbara for dinner, then got partly packed up.
15 Aug, Sat.- Headed home via Medford where we stopped for gas at Costco (considerably cheaper than the local stations but quite a bit out of the way). Otherwise, we just slogged along I-5 all the way to the turnoff in south Tacoma. Arriving home we knew it wouldn't be long before we were gone again as we had to catch the flight to Florida late on the 19th.
16 Aug, Sun - Laundry and other clean-up
17 Aug, Mon - More work around the house and garden.
18 Aug, Tues - Took a break and flew Tiger Mtn.
19 Aug, Wed - I had an appointment to have a mechanic look at the trailer electric brake controller in the Outback at Apache Camping, the Everett dealer for Aliner.
24 August 2009
22 August 2009
Idaho Panhandle
4 Aug-8 Aug 2009
Rick "Doc" Shallman has been inviting us for years to join him in northern Idaho to camp and explore new flying sites. This year our calendar coincided with his invitation and we spent most of a week in Camp Buffalo Bluff and traveling around Idaho and Montana.
(Photo, left: Doc flying Keeler with Terri watching)
4 Aug - As usual, we got a not-so-early start. We made a couple of stops along I-90 including downtown Ritzville, then turned north just beyond Post Falls, ID, in order to avoid traffic in Coeur D' Alene. Specific directions, maps and our faithful GPS, Sheila, got us to Doc's property via Samuels and dirt roads. Val was there but the rest of the gang were out chasing elusive airtime and didn't return until after dark with tales of a 25 km flight from a) a terrible launch or b) a place with no LZ's (Seems like it's always either one or the other).
5 Aug, Wed. - We left camp around 1100 in two trucks to accommodate the smokers (Richard, Doc, K, Val, Chris) and non-smokers (Preacher, Maggie, and us). The route took us north through Bonners Ferry and up US
95 to a USFS road which led up Hall Mountain to the site of a former lookout tower and hang glider launch. Great launch but the weather was not cooperating with over-the-back wind and then rain. We hung out and spent some time picking huckleberries until eventually the sky cleared and the wind came around from the west. Early launchers had mostly extended flydowns while C.J. and I managed to scratch out soaring flights and I got to fly north almost to the Canadian border, not very far. There were huge LZ's all along the highway in the Kootenai River valley and retrieve was simple. We got back to camp in time for Richard to grill lamb for dinner.6 Aug, Thurs - Steve T joined us last night and in the non-smokers rig Thursday. The route was the same today except that we continued north to the border and attempted to cross into Canada. Unfortunately, the smokers' vehicle must have looked suspicious because they were detained
and the whole vehicle searched. After the ordeal was over we headed for the road to Mt. Thompson but it apparently had been misplaced and it was only when we had retraced our route that we found it. It was a long, rocky, 4WD road to the antenna farm on top (7000+ ft)(photo, left: Dr. K, Steve T, Richard, Preacher, Maggie&Doc)
and the excellent hang/para launch. The sky surrounding the peak was filled with towering cu's and virga so only Preacher felt launching was an option. Surprisingly, after surviving an impact with a tree on launch, he found no lift on the way to the LZ owned by
a pilot-friendly family. The rest of us waited with varying degrees of patience until it was clear that there would be no flying. Doc's truck was making expensive transfer case (or differential) noises so we were surprised when he loaded onboard several very heavy rocks to add to his fireplace. We were back early enough to clean up and drive into Sandpoint for dinner at Ivano's, a good Italian restaurant. It was probably more memorable for the eclectic dress of Doc, Richard (utilikilts) and Preacher (clerical collar).7 Aug, Fri.- Doc decided on an exploratory trip into Montana to Kootenai Mtn near Troy. It was a little more difficult to find the route on the ground than on Google Earth but we got some directions from locals and drove to where the launch ought to be (but not before losing Doc's truck when it was discovered that he had a quarter-sized hole in his differential case - sent down to Troy with the non-flyers to
try to get a local mechanic to patch it). Kootenai launch turned out to be "no-go" - it faced east into the wind but there were no LZ's below and the wind was coming out of a gorge or over nearby ridges. Returning to Troy we picked up the now jury-rigged truck and headed off to visit Terri, a lookout on Keeler Mtn south of Troy. She met us at the locked gate and gave some of us a ride to where she thought a launch might be. It was doable, as Doc proved later after doing some minor clearing. But the east-facing launch looked out on to a wide, north-south valley with strong winds from the south. Doc managed to make it all the way across the valley to a little mining town with a bar where Richard and the rest were hanging out. No one else thought it was worth the possibility that they might land in the mine tailings or trees. After getting back down we all gathered at Little Joes for a beer and then started the long drive home which ended long after dark.8 Aug, Sat.- C.J. and I got started home around 1000 after taking down our big "condo tent" and packing up the
unused inflatable kayak and related gear. This time we drove all the way down US 95 to Coeur D'Alene where we gassed up at Costco, had luch at a rest area on I-90 near Sprague Lake and decided on a scenic detour. There is a scenic byway which traverses the channeled scablands but we could not find it on any map so we made our own by driving south from Potholes reservoir through the Columbia NWR. We stopped to look at a campground and then took a short hike along upper Crab Creek. Leaving CNWR we headed back north to Potholes State Park and a fruit stand on a road that connected to SR 26 where we bought some of the last of this year's bumper crop of cherries. Just before the bridge at Vantage we were drawn in by sign advertising "SWEET corn". The price was a bit high but it was the end of the day so the entrepreneur dropped the price for us. Back at home we found the corn worth every bit of the original price and we were glad to have bought a whole dozen.20 August 2009
Aliner Sport
I've been looking at and learning about this pop-up trailer with solid sides made by Columbia Northwest since early spring. C.J. and I visited three Washington dealers and found out that even the smallest one, the Sport, which is only 12.5 ft long costs more than $12,000 new. That's definitely not in the budget! But we really liked the concept and thought it might be perfect for extending our travel and camping season, and especially for doing a late summer trip up the Alaska Highway.
(photo, above left: Nancy's Sport in Penn.)
Someone suggested a link that showed Craigslist postings for Aliners all across the U.S. (http://www.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/mash.cgi?cat=cprv&itm=a-liner&loc=&fil=&ys=&ye=2009&submit=++++go++++) and I started watching for a not-too-old used Sport. The 2005 seemed about right (it didn't have the flooring problems of the earlier ones, but still has the aluminum shell) however, the ones that were listed were all around $7000 (or more!). That clearly wasn't going to fly. Then, around the beginning of August, someone ran an ad for a 2005 Sport for $4000. Sounded too good to be true, but the good news was that it was located in Indianapolis. My brother Wayne and his wife Betty/Jeannie were good enough to do the inspection and check out the seller. Despite the low price, the trailer seemed to be in good condition and Wayne closed the deal for us.
The seller delivered the Sport to Wayne's house on the 8th and it's waiting there now for us to come pick it up when we get back from this trip to Florida. In preparation, I've installed a hitch and the necessary wiring on the Outback, installed a brake controller (thanks to Bob Hannah), and added a transmission oil cooler. We've been stacking up information about the Alaska Highway, but we'll have to survive the shakedown cruise from Indy to North Bend first.
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See the post about our journey to Indianapolis to pick up the Sportliner and the trip back through Yellowstone.
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Here is a list of additions, mods and work done on the Sportliner since we bought it.
- New deep-cycle 12 V battery, battery vent (Costco)($70)
- Replaced trailer wiring/converter for Outback (Danny's) (The Hitch Store.com sent a replacement)
- Installed propane furnace (Danny's Campers)($500)
- Installed Fantastic Fan vent (Danny's Campers)($400?)
- Folding table leg to support A-wall when folded in (Danny's Campers)($10)
- Replacement weatherstripping package from CNW ($90)
- Reconnected brake wires with butt splices (3x)
- Replaced electric brake magnets (eTrailer.com) ($50)
- Replaced twisted hitch ballmount for Outback (U-Haul) ($20)
- Replaced front-right corner molding and repainted front of trailer ($25)
- Replaced all three tires with TowMax from Les Schwab ($211)
25 July 2009
North Cascades Mini-Trip
22-23 July 2009
The weather had been hot and dry in western Washington so C.J. and I thought we'd get above it all by going north and into the North Cascades National Park Complex to paddle and hike.
22 July, Wednesday - Not content with the usual route up I-5 and over on SR 20, we programmed "Sheila", our GPS, to take us via Granite Falls and the Mountain Loop Highway. It was a good choice. Strangely, in Granite Falls, there was but one small sign directing us to Verlot, a tiny village on the MLH. We took a lunch break at the site of the Big Four Lodge, with a grand view of its eponymous mountain (We couldn't see the snowfields which supposedly formed the shape of a 4, however). Along the roadside on the way to Barlow Pass, a strip of yellow flowers the same shade as the painted centerline gave a splash of color to the typical greens of lowland northwest forest vegetation. The pavement gave way to gravel shortly after we passed the gated approach to the old mining town of Monte Cristo and continued dustily for fifteen miles. There were a mulitude of casual camping sites along the river-side of the road all through the National Forest. Since we had taken the scenic route, we didn't pull into Colonial Creek campground until after 4 pm and I was concerned that there might not be much of a selection of sites available. As it turned out, both sections of the campground were open and there were so many sites that we set up at one on the hillside and then moved to another one right down on Thunder Arm. C.J. and I used the kayak cart to move to boat to our campsite so it wold be ready for an early start in the morning, knowing how the wind would typically kick up in the afternoon. After a no-cook dinner, we walked around the south unit of the camp and then attended a short PowerPoint slide show on glaciers (312 in North Cascades NP, 4 in Glacier NP). It was still hot when we went to bed partly because the wind had died down; we left the fly off to promote as much ventilation as possible.
23 July, Thursday - An alarm clock bird (raven, maybe?) woke us at 0615 or so and we heated water for breakfast. By 0745 we were on Lake Diablo and padling under the highway bridge. There were some low clouds but we could look back and see Colonial Mountain with its glacier above the campground. After passing through the logboom (placed to keep debris from entering Diablo from Colonial Creek and floating down to the turbine intakes on Diablo Dam), we paddled along the eastern shore and around the point. Shortly beyond we spotted a second campsite tucked back in an shallow inlet (the first one had been on Thunder Point at the mouth of Thunder Arm).
As we paddled east, the lake narrowed until we were in a canyon that was the original channel of the Skagit River before the three dams had been constructed. The Diablo Lake ferry passed us just before we reached the dock and a view of the waffle-faced Ross Dam. Just about then I noticed that it was spitting rain, in fact it was more like sleet or hail. Then it started raining pretty seriously and we sheltered under an overhanging tree for a bit. As the shower abated we paddled up far enough to peek around the corner at the dam and the "Danger" signs. We beached near the dock and got out some wind-and- rain gear because the temperature had dropped dramatically. It still looked like it was just going to be a shower because we could see blue sky to the west. Nevertheless, instead of staying to walk around and explore the Ross Dam area, we opted to start back just in case the wind was going to pick up early. [We had been making 5-6 kph on the way in; on the downstream leg the gps was showing 6-7 kph]. We stopped briefly at the second campsite in the continuing light rain and then headed around the point and across to the west bank past the Thunder Point campground. Around then we heard the first of several thunder booms and began to feel exposed in the middle of the lake arm. We never saw any lightning,and got back to shore at our campsite around noon. Without a fly, everything in the tent was either wet or soaked - quilt, sleeping bags, some clothing - it was a mess. After waffling for a while, we decided to pack it up even though it looked like the sun might come out. By the time we got everything back in or on the car, it had cleared, but we didn't know if that was temporary or not. We pulled out of Colonial Creek CG and headed east to the Ross Lake overlook on SR 20 where we set our chairs up in the sun and had lunch. We were surprised to see a pika down this low (under 2000 ft msl) since the ranger had said they like temperatures below 70 deg F. After studying the AAA map for a while we decided on a short hike to Rowley Chasm from the Granite Creek Trailhead just a few miles to the west. We repacked for hiking and secured the kayak with a cable before crossing the Granite Creek Bridge and turning right on the Chancellor Ridge Trail. It was all uphill through forest with a deep gorge to our left and waterfalls on the opposite ridge.
When the trail started downhill in a couple of miles we found a sign telling us that the Rowley Chasm trail was closed and not maintained. We headed down a ways and quickly came to a makeshift barrier which blocked hikers from stumbling into the deep vertical gorge which had cut the trail. We gingerly inched around the uphill end of it but decided not to hike all the way down to the Chasm (and have to climb all the way back up as well).
Besides, there were lots of downed trees to climb over or crawl under on the unmaintained trail. We got back to the car sometime after 1600 and headed for home in the sun and wind (Probably could have dried our stuff out if we had stayed in camp, but we had a good day anyway). The route Sheila suggested was south from Rockport to Darrington, to Arlington, then south on SR 9 past Snohomish to I-405 at Bothell. It worked fine and was at least different from taking US 20 and I-5 as usual. We reached home around 2030, tired.
And for another point of view, here's how C.J. described the trip to Paula:
We just got home from a cool adventure in the North Cascades: We paddled our kayak up Thunder Arm into Diablo Lake, right to the base of Ross Dam (end of the "road"!) and then back to our campsite. Amazing scenery, big mountains with glaciers, steep cliffs on either side of the narrow Arm, lots of waterfalls (it's not called Cascades for nothin'!), and then, just after we snapped a photo of the dam, deluge and thunder. Yikes!! The rumbles of thunder echoed and re-echoed for minutes, it seemed, in that deep canyon. We weren't cold, and the wind didn't get too bad, so it was just part of the adventure being right down on the water as the raindrops pounded down and bounced back up in tiny pillars of water at least an inch high. Too bad we don't have waterproof cameras – that would've been a cool picture!
Unfortunately, it's been so long since we've had any rain here in the NW (nearly a month), we'd forgotten that that's what it does around here, and we'd gone off without putting the rain fly on our tent. Duh! Our sleeping bags and pads were floating by the time we got back :0( With no way to dry things out – no guarantee that the sun would be back out any time soon – we had to pack up and head home a day early.
But, since by the time we were ready to leave it was only cloudy and not raining, we decided to hike into an area with the enticing name of "Rawley's Chasm." The trail was clearly marked on our AAA map, and on our GPS, but there was no mention of Rawley's Chasm on any of the info boards at the trailhead. Hmmmmm.
Turns out that the chasm is, indeed, very chasm-y, and the trail follows along well above the gorge for a couple of miles. Eventually, however, the route leading to the chasm had a sign saying "Rawley's Chasm - trail abandoned" on an old but official-looking wooden trail marker. It didn't say "turn back now!" or "danger de morte" so we decided to go explore. At first the only obstacles were large downed trees that we had to climb over or crawl under, but then we came to the real reason for the abandonment: A side chasm had opened up a huge deep gap, a split in the rocks that went almost straight down to the bottom of the chasm, too wide to leap across (and too scary to contemplate even if it had looked possible). We made our way up the hillside a bit to where we could get across the head of the side chasm and re-join the trail on the other side, but things went from nerve-wracking to downright terrifying – it was many hundreds of feet of cliff down to the bottom of Rawley's Chasm, right next to the trail, and there were a lot of obstacles that would have to be negotiated. Enough was enough, and we turned around.
When we got back to the parking lot, the sun was out and the wind was blowing hard enough that we probably could have strung a line and dried our tent and sleeping bags in no time. But we'd used up all our energy paddling and hiking, and drying things out and setting up camp again sounded like too much work, so we headed home, stopping at the scenic overlooks for excellent views down to the lake and the dam.
See some photos from this trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/GSturtevant .
The weather had been hot and dry in western Washington so C.J. and I thought we'd get above it all by going north and into the North Cascades National Park Complex to paddle and hike.
22 July, Wednesday - Not content with the usual route up I-5 and over on SR 20, we programmed "Sheila", our GPS, to take us via Granite Falls and the Mountain Loop Highway. It was a good choice. Strangely, in Granite Falls, there was but one small sign directing us to Verlot, a tiny village on the MLH. We took a lunch break at the site of the Big Four Lodge, with a grand view of its eponymous mountain (We couldn't see the snowfields which supposedly formed the shape of a 4, however). Along the roadside on the way to Barlow Pass, a strip of yellow flowers the same shade as the painted centerline gave a splash of color to the typical greens of lowland northwest forest vegetation. The pavement gave way to gravel shortly after we passed the gated approach to the old mining town of Monte Cristo and continued dustily for fifteen miles. There were a mulitude of casual camping sites along the river-side of the road all through the National Forest. Since we had taken the scenic route, we didn't pull into Colonial Creek campground until after 4 pm and I was concerned that there might not be much of a selection of sites available. As it turned out, both sections of the campground were open and there were so many sites that we set up at one on the hillside and then moved to another one right down on Thunder Arm. C.J. and I used the kayak cart to move to boat to our campsite so it wold be ready for an early start in the morning, knowing how the wind would typically kick up in the afternoon. After a no-cook dinner, we walked around the south unit of the camp and then attended a short PowerPoint slide show on glaciers (312 in North Cascades NP, 4 in Glacier NP). It was still hot when we went to bed partly because the wind had died down; we left the fly off to promote as much ventilation as possible.
23 July, Thursday - An alarm clock bird (raven, maybe?) woke us at 0615 or so and we heated water for breakfast. By 0745 we were on Lake Diablo and padling under the highway bridge. There were some low clouds but we could look back and see Colonial Mountain with its glacier above the campground. After passing through the logboom (placed to keep debris from entering Diablo from Colonial Creek and floating down to the turbine intakes on Diablo Dam), we paddled along the eastern shore and around the point. Shortly beyond we spotted a second campsite tucked back in an shallow inlet (the first one had been on Thunder Point at the mouth of Thunder Arm).
As we paddled east, the lake narrowed until we were in a canyon that was the original channel of the Skagit River before the three dams had been constructed. The Diablo Lake ferry passed us just before we reached the dock and a view of the waffle-faced Ross Dam. Just about then I noticed that it was spitting rain, in fact it was more like sleet or hail. Then it started raining pretty seriously and we sheltered under an overhanging tree for a bit. As the shower abated we paddled up far enough to peek around the corner at the dam and the "Danger" signs. We beached near the dock and got out some wind-and- rain gear because the temperature had dropped dramatically. It still looked like it was just going to be a shower because we could see blue sky to the west. Nevertheless, instead of staying to walk around and explore the Ross Dam area, we opted to start back just in case the wind was going to pick up early. [We had been making 5-6 kph on the way in; on the downstream leg the gps was showing 6-7 kph]. We stopped briefly at the second campsite in the continuing light rain and then headed around the point and across to the west bank past the Thunder Point campground. Around then we heard the first of several thunder booms and began to feel exposed in the middle of the lake arm. We never saw any lightning,and got back to shore at our campsite around noon. Without a fly, everything in the tent was either wet or soaked - quilt, sleeping bags, some clothing - it was a mess. After waffling for a while, we decided to pack it up even though it looked like the sun might come out. By the time we got everything back in or on the car, it had cleared, but we didn't know if that was temporary or not. We pulled out of Colonial Creek CG and headed east to the Ross Lake overlook on SR 20 where we set our chairs up in the sun and had lunch. We were surprised to see a pika down this low (under 2000 ft msl) since the ranger had said they like temperatures below 70 deg F. After studying the AAA map for a while we decided on a short hike to Rowley Chasm from the Granite Creek Trailhead just a few miles to the west. We repacked for hiking and secured the kayak with a cable before crossing the Granite Creek Bridge and turning right on the Chancellor Ridge Trail. It was all uphill through forest with a deep gorge to our left and waterfalls on the opposite ridge.
When the trail started downhill in a couple of miles we found a sign telling us that the Rowley Chasm trail was closed and not maintained. We headed down a ways and quickly came to a makeshift barrier which blocked hikers from stumbling into the deep vertical gorge which had cut the trail. We gingerly inched around the uphill end of it but decided not to hike all the way down to the Chasm (and have to climb all the way back up as well).
Besides, there were lots of downed trees to climb over or crawl under on the unmaintained trail. We got back to the car sometime after 1600 and headed for home in the sun and wind (Probably could have dried our stuff out if we had stayed in camp, but we had a good day anyway). The route Sheila suggested was south from Rockport to Darrington, to Arlington, then south on SR 9 past Snohomish to I-405 at Bothell. It worked fine and was at least different from taking US 20 and I-5 as usual. We reached home around 2030, tired.And for another point of view, here's how C.J. described the trip to Paula:
We just got home from a cool adventure in the North Cascades: We paddled our kayak up Thunder Arm into Diablo Lake, right to the base of Ross Dam (end of the "road"!) and then back to our campsite. Amazing scenery, big mountains with glaciers, steep cliffs on either side of the narrow Arm, lots of waterfalls (it's not called Cascades for nothin'!), and then, just after we snapped a photo of the dam, deluge and thunder. Yikes!! The rumbles of thunder echoed and re-echoed for minutes, it seemed, in that deep canyon. We weren't cold, and the wind didn't get too bad, so it was just part of the adventure being right down on the water as the raindrops pounded down and bounced back up in tiny pillars of water at least an inch high. Too bad we don't have waterproof cameras – that would've been a cool picture!
Unfortunately, it's been so long since we've had any rain here in the NW (nearly a month), we'd forgotten that that's what it does around here, and we'd gone off without putting the rain fly on our tent. Duh! Our sleeping bags and pads were floating by the time we got back :0( With no way to dry things out – no guarantee that the sun would be back out any time soon – we had to pack up and head home a day early.
But, since by the time we were ready to leave it was only cloudy and not raining, we decided to hike into an area with the enticing name of "Rawley's Chasm." The trail was clearly marked on our AAA map, and on our GPS, but there was no mention of Rawley's Chasm on any of the info boards at the trailhead. Hmmmmm.
Turns out that the chasm is, indeed, very chasm-y, and the trail follows along well above the gorge for a couple of miles. Eventually, however, the route leading to the chasm had a sign saying "Rawley's Chasm - trail abandoned" on an old but official-looking wooden trail marker. It didn't say "turn back now!" or "danger de morte" so we decided to go explore. At first the only obstacles were large downed trees that we had to climb over or crawl under, but then we came to the real reason for the abandonment: A side chasm had opened up a huge deep gap, a split in the rocks that went almost straight down to the bottom of the chasm, too wide to leap across (and too scary to contemplate even if it had looked possible). We made our way up the hillside a bit to where we could get across the head of the side chasm and re-join the trail on the other side, but things went from nerve-wracking to downright terrifying – it was many hundreds of feet of cliff down to the bottom of Rawley's Chasm, right next to the trail, and there were a lot of obstacles that would have to be negotiated. Enough was enough, and we turned around.
When we got back to the parking lot, the sun was out and the wind was blowing hard enough that we probably could have strung a line and dried our tent and sleeping bags in no time. But we'd used up all our energy paddling and hiking, and drying things out and setting up camp again sounded like too much work, so we headed home, stopping at the scenic overlooks for excellent views down to the lake and the dam.
See some photos from this trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/GSturtevant .
12 July 2009
Two Days at the Classic
Darren Darcy asked C.J. and me to help out for the last two days as launch directors/monitors/nazis at the Chelan XC Classic. Camping would be free at the horseshoe club behind the Chelan public library, it wasn't too hot and there was a BBQ the last night, so why not?
9 July 2009, Thursday - We got to Chelan early enough to set up our camp on the green grass (clue no. 1) of the horseshoe court near a bunch of other tents. Since it was Chelan we didn't put up the fly (clue no.2). The pilots' meeting was just ending as we got up to launch and we spent the next five hours (there were some re-launches) keeping the launches safe and more-or-less orderly. Conditions were pretty "big" with lots of flat-bottomed Cu's and later some towering CuNim's with at least one lightning flash. Even after lunch and a rest in the shade we were too beat to fly our own wings so we went down to hang out at the soccer field LZ where people were returning from great flights (or not returning - Sam Mulder had flown his pg to Creston and Meredyth was out at Wilbur!). Later we headed back to camp and found out why people protected their tents with flies - the sprinkler from the adjacent softball field had soaked our tent. Fortunately, we had only our pads and clothing bags in the tent and it was early enough for the sun to dry everything out. Chris A. joined us late for dinner (he had to rescue his tent which had blown away at Beebe). Before bedtime, Joe Jackson put a big rock in front of the sprinkler to keep the worst of the spray off of everyone - it worked pretty well, only two water streams hit us overnight - and, by then of course we had our fly on the tent.
10 July 2009, Friday - After breakfast we hung out in the campground until it was time to leave for the pilots' meeting. On the launch it was more of the same as yesterday but maybe even more dust devils. There was a time when none of the hang gliders were launching - the thermal appeared to be far out in front of Between-the-Rocks and no wind was flowing up the launch. Some people made the rounds of all the possible takeoffs with their gliders and ended up back at Green Monster. Still when we got the reports later, many pilots had great flights (Steve Stroming, for example, flew Withrow, Mansfield and back to the Butte; Brian Webb went to Withrow, Leahy and back to the soccer field). Around 1600, after lunch and a rest break, C.J. launched from Lakeside and got up over 9000 ft at the Butte, then made a run at the flats but turned back when the air started feeling funny. I met her at the soccer field and we hung out there until the BBQ was over around 2100. Pilots were still arriving from distant, or slow, triangles even after most of the burgers and brats were gone (Claudio was one - his route was Withrow, Sims and back, something that a hang glider would be happy with.)
11 July 2009, Saturday - Darren had to return to Seattle for a job so he turned the awards ceremony over to C.J.
She did a great job, getting each placing pilot to tell one story from the comp.
Sunny Jim told about dancing with the (dust) devil which resulted in a bent outboard leading edge, Naomi recounted her low save and flight to Withrow, Mansfield and back with Peter just ahead of her, both on Falcons. Later several of the competitors headed up the Butte and we found lots of PGs up there as well. But no one had launched (it was only 1130 or so) and it was already very hot, so C.J. and I decided to head home. First we stocked up on local cherries at Red Apple ($1/lb), then stopped at Aerial Paragliding's SIV clinic in the Entiat park to see how Patricia was doing (great!, as it turned out). The rest of the trip home seemed kind of long but when we got home there was still time to do some laundry and hang it out in the wind and sun while starting to water the dry garden.
9 July 2009, Thursday - We got to Chelan early enough to set up our camp on the green grass (clue no. 1) of the horseshoe court near a bunch of other tents. Since it was Chelan we didn't put up the fly (clue no.2). The pilots' meeting was just ending as we got up to launch and we spent the next five hours (there were some re-launches) keeping the launches safe and more-or-less orderly. Conditions were pretty "big" with lots of flat-bottomed Cu's and later some towering CuNim's with at least one lightning flash. Even after lunch and a rest in the shade we were too beat to fly our own wings so we went down to hang out at the soccer field LZ where people were returning from great flights (or not returning - Sam Mulder had flown his pg to Creston and Meredyth was out at Wilbur!). Later we headed back to camp and found out why people protected their tents with flies - the sprinkler from the adjacent softball field had soaked our tent. Fortunately, we had only our pads and clothing bags in the tent and it was early enough for the sun to dry everything out. Chris A. joined us late for dinner (he had to rescue his tent which had blown away at Beebe). Before bedtime, Joe Jackson put a big rock in front of the sprinkler to keep the worst of the spray off of everyone - it worked pretty well, only two water streams hit us overnight - and, by then of course we had our fly on the tent.
10 July 2009, Friday - After breakfast we hung out in the campground until it was time to leave for the pilots' meeting. On the launch it was more of the same as yesterday but maybe even more dust devils. There was a time when none of the hang gliders were launching - the thermal appeared to be far out in front of Between-the-Rocks and no wind was flowing up the launch. Some people made the rounds of all the possible takeoffs with their gliders and ended up back at Green Monster. Still when we got the reports later, many pilots had great flights (Steve Stroming, for example, flew Withrow, Mansfield and back to the Butte; Brian Webb went to Withrow, Leahy and back to the soccer field). Around 1600, after lunch and a rest break, C.J. launched from Lakeside and got up over 9000 ft at the Butte, then made a run at the flats but turned back when the air started feeling funny. I met her at the soccer field and we hung out there until the BBQ was over around 2100. Pilots were still arriving from distant, or slow, triangles even after most of the burgers and brats were gone (Claudio was one - his route was Withrow, Sims and back, something that a hang glider would be happy with.)
11 July 2009, Saturday - Darren had to return to Seattle for a job so he turned the awards ceremony over to C.J.
She did a great job, getting each placing pilot to tell one story from the comp.
Sunny Jim told about dancing with the (dust) devil which resulted in a bent outboard leading edge, Naomi recounted her low save and flight to Withrow, Mansfield and back with Peter just ahead of her, both on Falcons. Later several of the competitors headed up the Butte and we found lots of PGs up there as well. But no one had launched (it was only 1130 or so) and it was already very hot, so C.J. and I decided to head home. First we stocked up on local cherries at Red Apple ($1/lb), then stopped at Aerial Paragliding's SIV clinic in the Entiat park to see how Patricia was doing (great!, as it turned out). The rest of the trip home seemed kind of long but when we got home there was still time to do some laundry and hang it out in the wind and sun while starting to water the dry garden.
06 July 2009
Rat Race 2009
26 June 2009, Friday – We got out of North Bend around 0930 and pulled in to the yurt around 1830 with only minor stops and detours (like trying to check out the REI sale in Portland (not at Jantzen Beach anymore) and Eugene (missed the turn)). There were a few new features to the yurt including C.J.’s quilt, and a full-size futon/couch. We piled two fleece sleeping bags and our down comforter on another pile of futons on the floor and hoped we had brought enough warm clothes.
27 June 2009, Saturday – After a leisurely breakfast (late because it was so cold when we woke up), we went over and visited with Geoff and Teri for a while. Then we went to Rat Race HQ where we thought we could check in early. Nope – not until after 1400. Fortunately we got an offer of a ride up the hill with Steve Thibault, Lynn B. and Chris A. We weren’t sure we were going to fly but it looked okay so we punched off around 1400 and got some of that famous Woodrat mid-day turbulence. No one was getting really high due to the inversion and C.J. and I ended up in the LZ while Chris made it down the Applegate toward
28 June 2009, Sunday – Chris had joined us last night so we all had breakfast together early enough so we could leave for the HQ by 0830. On the way out we saw a dead buck by the side of
29 June 2009, Monday – It was colder again in the morning so a hot breakfast of instant oatmeal (Costco) tasted really good. We got to the HQ a bit earlier than yesterday and loaded on to the white bus again. The meeting wasn’t as long and we got to launch earlier. Conrad Kreik ran the wind tech volunteer operation today. (Task –
30 June 2009, Tuesday – We got up earlier in order to get to a free breakfast at Fiasco Winery just outside of Ruch. The winery is owned by a longtime hang glider pilot and there is a landing place behind the tasting room. So now we have two wineries vying for our paragliding presence. The pilots meeting and shuttle departure was from the winery as well. I launched around noon again (after slipping on the gravel and falling on my first attempt) and was able to climb probably a thousand feet above launch before crossing to Rabies above the cell tower where the lift was turbulent as I pushed through the inversion (I assume). At just over five grand I left for Burnt and arrived below the top. Lift was spotty and not consistent enough for me to climb out. I was hoping to fly to the goal at Donato’s but ended up in the usual LZ after 40 minutes. Later I got a ride to the winery and then waited around for C.J. to land – she had made the FlyAir turnpoint. We drove in to Costco in
1 July 2009, Wednesday – We got to HQ just barely before 0900. The forecast was for “epic” conditions – early breakup of the inversion and then climbs to 9,500 ft. However, on launch, conditions seemed about the same as the previous days. Wind techs were not getting high and no time had been posted for the task which optimistically had been set for
(C.J. launching and flying toward Rabe's Ridge)
2 July 2009, Thursday – I had missed my volunteer garbage pickup job last night so we went in early to do it in the morning. At the meeting the volunteers all got a big round of applause. The weather was forecast to be better than yesterday with possible climbs to 12,300. At launch there were clouds over the
3 July 2009, Friday – I did the morning garbage pickup again because Mayumi had gone home. We got to the top a little later than usual and people were already soaring. The task was called by 1200 and I launched as soon as I could, 1230, to stay ahead of the 1300 start window. I climbed to almost 5000 above launch and felt a bit crowded so I crossed to Rabies and found lift over the ridge above the cell tower. I climbed to 6200 and went back to
4 July 2009, Saturday – The last day of the Rat Race – at the morning meeting C.J. and two others received a Loyalty Award for seven years of attendance from the first year to the present. At launch no one was soaring and there was a long wait before the task (LZ-Burnt-SugarL-WoodLn-Mt_Isa-Purcell (later changed)) was called. I got tired of waiting, and took off when there were a few pilots soaring. I got up near 5000 ft thermalling back from the ridge and crossed to Burnt where there was a tiny Cu. Sure enough, there was strong lift that took me to 6500 at up to 1000 fpm, and 640 fpm on the averager. Then I headed across the valley to Rabies in big sink (up to -1000 fpm) and a headwind. I found some lift over the ridge but by then I was down to 3500 ft and the lift was inconsistent. I flew back to the LZ and landed in turbulent conditions but not much wind. Meanwhile wind tech Nicole was getting to 11,000 ft over Woodrat. I went back to the HQ and could see the first competitors launching around 1445. A half hour later the task was canceled and many pilots, including Jeff Farrel and C.J., drove down. Some of the pilots who flew got as high as 13,500 ft, probably a new site record – from there they could have made goal on a glide! The awards dinner began around 1800 – lasagna, bread, salad and a couple kegs of beer – and was followed by the awards presentation…followed by half the crowd getting thrown in the pool. We headed back to the yurt around 2100 – looks like the neighbors are having a party so it’s anything but quiet here tonight.
(Debbie V., C.J. and G at the yurt)
5 July 2009, Sunday – We cleaned the yurt and got headed home around 0930. I’d considered going via the coast but we didn’t have a tent with us and it would take more than a day. So we went back up I-5 with a Costco gas-stop at
22 June 2009
Trailer Trial at the Dog Pound
19-20-21 June
Bob Hannah generously volunteered his MityLite pop-up trailer for a test run with the Outback. C.J. and I got to fly, visit with the Dog crew, see how the trailer worked out in the rain, and get a good long hike.
I drove in to get the trailer on Friday and right away found a problem - the brake controller did not show a connection to the trailer brakes. All the other wiring seemed to be working so I hauled the MityLite out of Bob's yard and took it to the north Bend Safeway parking lot. I spent a half hour or so practicing making the trailer go where I wanted it when backing up. I won't say I was very successful, but Bob pointed out that the shorter the trailer, the more difficult the control when backing. At home I parked, unhitched and muscled the trailer around 180 degrees to avoid the backing-up hassle. Weather didn't look all that great so we did not leave for Dog on Friday.
It didn't look tha
t much better Saturday but we drove to Dog anyway. We went directly to Dave Gerdes' farm/ranch/nursery, aka "the dog pound", and parked the trailer. Then we drove up to launch where no one recognized us with our Outback and C.J.'s glider on its big-board rack. Larry was going to do a tandem and there were a bunch of family and friends of the tandem-ee, plus Jasmine and her fiance, Justin, and Reba, daughter of Steve and Kim Moyes. Other than that there were few pilots so I was able to set up and launch in the very light conditions. And promptly sank out to the North Field LZ. Luckily, Andrey arrived shortly after I landed and I got a ride back to launch with him. By then people were ridge soaring the north side of Dog and I quickly set up again and launched off the much-easier north launch. Ah hah! The north side was at least scratchable and I managed to stay at or above launch level for almost an hour before heading out to the north field LZ. I hadn't noticed before that there was a bridge over the creek between the LZ and Dog Mountain - have to explore that area sometime. Justin had driven the Outback down so all we had to do was pack up and hop in the car to go back to camp. Later we joined Jorgensens (and their extended family of boy friends and fiances) for dinner. It was drizzling when we went to bed but the trailer made it a non-concern.
Sunday we ate breakfast in the Mity Lite, using the stove just to heat some water for drinks. Then we scooted out to the boat launch to use the facilities, and headed up to the goat Creek trailhead again. This time we had a sizeable party with Larry, Reba, Jasmine and Justin, Sierra and Zach (?) and the dogs.
We made good time to the waterfall and the fork in the trail, then we slowed down as the trail climbed along Tumwater Creek. It was probably another 2-2 1/2 miles to Vanson Lake (ca. 4000 msl). C.J. almost didn't reach the lake, slipping on the rocks on the last stream crossing and falling on her back in the icy water. Fortunately she had some dry clothes so after a quick change we bushwhacked around the near side of the lake (through the snow!) to meet the rest of the group.
There was too much snow to consider going on farther so we had a bite to eat and headed back down. It went faster but by the time we neared the trailhead, my left knee was aching and we were in and out of rain (some, up near the lake, was mixed with sleet). Flying did not look like a good possibility so everyone began packing up and we were gone by 4 pm or so.
The trailer worked out well with the only big negative being the decrease in gas mileage - a 25-33% drop. I'd still like to get the trailer brakes working (and a test on Thursday showed that it was in my wiring somewhere - not in the Prodigy, and not in the trailer).
Bob Hannah generously volunteered his MityLite pop-up trailer for a test run with the Outback. C.J. and I got to fly, visit with the Dog crew, see how the trailer worked out in the rain, and get a good long hike.
I drove in to get the trailer on Friday and right away found a problem - the brake controller did not show a connection to the trailer brakes. All the other wiring seemed to be working so I hauled the MityLite out of Bob's yard and took it to the north Bend Safeway parking lot. I spent a half hour or so practicing making the trailer go where I wanted it when backing up. I won't say I was very successful, but Bob pointed out that the shorter the trailer, the more difficult the control when backing. At home I parked, unhitched and muscled the trailer around 180 degrees to avoid the backing-up hassle. Weather didn't look all that great so we did not leave for Dog on Friday.
It didn't look tha
t much better Saturday but we drove to Dog anyway. We went directly to Dave Gerdes' farm/ranch/nursery, aka "the dog pound", and parked the trailer. Then we drove up to launch where no one recognized us with our Outback and C.J.'s glider on its big-board rack. Larry was going to do a tandem and there were a bunch of family and friends of the tandem-ee, plus Jasmine and her fiance, Justin, and Reba, daughter of Steve and Kim Moyes. Other than that there were few pilots so I was able to set up and launch in the very light conditions. And promptly sank out to the North Field LZ. Luckily, Andrey arrived shortly after I landed and I got a ride back to launch with him. By then people were ridge soaring the north side of Dog and I quickly set up again and launched off the much-easier north launch. Ah hah! The north side was at least scratchable and I managed to stay at or above launch level for almost an hour before heading out to the north field LZ. I hadn't noticed before that there was a bridge over the creek between the LZ and Dog Mountain - have to explore that area sometime. Justin had driven the Outback down so all we had to do was pack up and hop in the car to go back to camp. Later we joined Jorgensens (and their extended family of boy friends and fiances) for dinner. It was drizzling when we went to bed but the trailer made it a non-concern.Sunday we ate breakfast in the Mity Lite, using the stove just to heat some water for drinks. Then we scooted out to the boat launch to use the facilities, and headed up to the goat Creek trailhead again. This time we had a sizeable party with Larry, Reba, Jasmine and Justin, Sierra and Zach (?) and the dogs.
We made good time to the waterfall and the fork in the trail, then we slowed down as the trail climbed along Tumwater Creek. It was probably another 2-2 1/2 miles to Vanson Lake (ca. 4000 msl). C.J. almost didn't reach the lake, slipping on the rocks on the last stream crossing and falling on her back in the icy water. Fortunately she had some dry clothes so after a quick change we bushwhacked around the near side of the lake (through the snow!) to meet the rest of the group.
There was too much snow to consider going on farther so we had a bite to eat and headed back down. It went faster but by the time we neared the trailhead, my left knee was aching and we were in and out of rain (some, up near the lake, was mixed with sleet). Flying did not look like a good possibility so everyone began packing up and we were gone by 4 pm or so.
The trailer worked out well with the only big negative being the decrease in gas mileage - a 25-33% drop. I'd still like to get the trailer brakes working (and a test on Thursday showed that it was in my wiring somewhere - not in the Prodigy, and not in the trailer).
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