Montana-Idaho-Oregon Road Trip

End of August 2016

Summer was winding down but it was just getting to record-breaking high temperatures in Seattle. Fortunately, Ginny and Wally were on a road trip to visit friends in Montana and after they finished there, they invited us to join them for a couple of days near Glacier. They had rented a cabin through Airbnb and we decided to bring the trailer so we didn’t crowd the small house. Good choice.

20 August, Sat – We didn’t make a particularly early start, 0915, even though we were somewhat concerned that there might be a problem finding a campsite on the weekend late in the afternoon. Driving across the rolling fields of eastern Washington, we reminisced about summer trips before air conditioning when we had to stop along the river and wet our t-shirts to keep cool. We stopped only once at a rest area before reaching Idaho and had to make a second stop to get our kayak checked (“Has it been in the water in the last 30 days? No? Have a nice trip, sir.”)[Another short stop to check our kayak just into Montana.] We got gas at Costco in Coeur d’Alene (2.259), crossed the lake and the first pass. When we got to Wallace we marveled that Matt Henzi was able to fly all the way there from Chelan on his paraglider – almost to Montana. From the border at Lookout Pass it’s only about 37 miles to Sloway Campground (USFS) and there were plenty of empty sites out of 27 possible; many have pull-thrus but we chose one that has a view and it was no problem to back into the wide parking pad. We walked down to the river which C.J. declared was swimming temperature, then up to the entrance to drop our envelope in the iron ranger. It was pretty warm after the air-conditioned car but there was a breeze as we sat down for a snack of fresh cucumber and deviled eggs, washed down with a bottle of the cider we won at the Chelan Nationals raffle. Later C.J. made a simple stir fry which we ate with some fresh bread. Dessert was “blue-barb crisp”. The first days of any trip are the best for fresh food. We were in the next time zone east of ours so it started getting cool and dim by 2100 and we moved into the trailer to write in our journals – well, actually we were both using computers because C.J. left her stack of books home; at least she hadn’t found them yet. According to the GPS it will only 2hr 15min to Whitefish so we should be there by noon. [Other options for camping include Quartz Creek Rest Area and Campground 20 miles to the east, and another place just a few miles off I-90 back to the west. There is also Cascade CG along the St. Regis River canyon although it appeared full when we saw it on Sunday.]

21 Aug, Sun – Woke up at 0730 and, since we weren’t in any particular rush we cooked up some oatmeal. We were on the road at 0900 heading back along I-90 to St. Regis. We drove along the scenic river canyon to Paradise and then north to __ and east to Flathead Lake. From there it wasn’t too far to Kalispell and gas at Costco (2.299), hot chocolate at Walmart, and a free mocha frappucchino at Starbucks for my birthday. A few more miles put us in Whitefish where we turned east on 2^nd then up Haskill Basin Road to the cabin. Ginny and Wally were out exploring Glacier as far as MacDonald Lodge, the Apgar visitor center and then up the Camas Road to the park entrance and back along the river. Once they got back we hung out in the shade visiting while Wally gave his swollen foot a rest [He had been hit by a truck while walking through a grocery store parking lot a few days before]. C.J. and I  took a walk along what looked like a ski or snowshoe trail which crossed the stream on “Cedar Span” and stopped at “Bubbles Beach”, a pretty short walk. Dinner was a very good salmon filet roasted in the oven plus two kinds of potatoes and green beans. Later we had peach-raspberry pie with ice cream in lieu of a birthday cake.

22 Aug, Mon – Up at 0800, oatmeal in the cabin microwave. We decided to give kayaking on 

MacDonald Lake a try since Ginny had found out that there were Hobies with foot-driven propellers for rent at MacDonald Lodge. We took both cars since we had the kayak on ours and had to stop just inside the entrance to the park to have our kayak inspected (actually for non-motorized boats all you need to do is fill out a self-certification form). We had noted that the wind was strong and gusty as we drove from Whitefish to West Glacier and the Ranger agreed that it looked too windy for kayaking on MacDonald. We met Ginny and Wally out at the Lodge (found one of the few remaining parking spots) and found out that only motorboats and rowboats ($18.50/hr) were rented there. No kayaks, and definitely no Hobies. [Later we found out that there were no Hobies anywhere in the park.] Since the signs indicated that there were no parking spaces available at Logan Pass, we decided to take the shuttle up there. We had a half-hour wait and then the bus that arrived had standing room only and Ginny decided that it wouldn’t work for Wally to have to stand all the way. So we all piled in Wally’s truck and did the scenic drive up the Going-to-the-Sun-Road. We stopped for the scenery at The Loop and then continued up through some one-lane construction to Logan Pass. Fortunately, there were some empty parking spots but it was cold and windy. The crowd was mostly packed into the small visitor Center. C.J. felt cold, tired and hungry so didn’t want to do the short (1.5mi) hike to the overlook and then have to wait for a shuttle. We piled back in the truck and headed down, eating lunch on the way. We made a short stop along MacDonald Creek to finish lunch in the relative warmth. After Wally dropped us at our car C.J. and I drove back to Avalanche Creek Campground just to see what it looked like – lots of tent campers and a few smaller RVs, but most sites had pull-thrus. Many of the tags on the sites indicated that the campers were leaving on the 23^rd so we figured we could find a site to camp in on Tuesday if we got there early. Just to be sure, we drove through Apgar CG, as well, and found the same situation except for more RVs. C.J. tried to mail her birthday gift to Barbara at West Glacier but we were 15 minutes too late. However, we got to Columbia Falls just before the 1700 closing of that post office. When we got back to the cabin I loaded as much of our stuff as possible so there would be less to do in the morning. Ginny heated up the stew she had made previously and we had a good dinner. We ate the rest of the pie and ice cream for dessert.

23 Aug, Tue – Up at 0600, ate some cold cereal and fruit before joining Ginny in the cabin for hot drinks and blue-barb crisp. Wally and Ginny thought they might go back over Logan Pass to see what the east side of the park looked like (since they couldn’t go back to visit their Montana friends

Sunrift Gorge

in Hamilton). We finished packing up and said goodbye around 0800. We got to Avalanche Creek CG (that's as far as large rigs, those over 21 ft, are allowed on the Going-to-the-Sun Road) around 1000. There were several empty sites and we chose one with a pull-thru and paid the fee (10). After discussing whether to take the Kia or use the park shuttle system we decided to go with our vehicle so we could go on our own schedule. We drove up to Logan stopping for a few minutes just a half-mile below the Pass at a short boardwalk loop that gave a great view back down into the valley. As we approached Logan we spotted several bighorn sheep above the Highline Trail. We had to drive around the parking lot several times until we lucked into a spot that had just been vacated. It was around noon so we grabbed our packs, poles and lunch and headed out to the Highline Trail to check out the sheep. Unfortunately the HL was still closed due to that carcass we heard about on Monday. We walked a ways down the road and found a place from which we could see the critters, although from a long ways away. The 10x binoculars were really helpful. After that we returned to Logan and headed up the Hidden Lake Trail (along with half the tourist population of Montana, it seemed). Until we reached a point most of the way up, the trail consisted of boardwalks. The last bit of the 1.5 mi walk was on regular packed-dirt trail. As we approached a stand of evergreens we saw three or four mountain goats. They were pretty close and we took some pictures. Above that we started hearing stories about a bear encounter farther along; a ranger passed us carrying a big steel mallet and we wondered if he was going up there to pound in a sign closing the trail [Our first attempt at a hike back in 1985? ended when the trail was ”closed for bear danger”.] The view from the Hidden Lake Overlook was great with the lake and Bearhat Mountain in the near distance and Gunsight Mountain with its glacier in the far distance. As we were eating lunch a little ways down the trail toward the lake, a ranger came along and started herding people back toward the Logan Pass visitors center. There was no real rush and we didn’t have to hurry to finish lunch. On the way

Jackson Glacier, GNP

back we saw six goats and three of them, a radio-collared adult, another adult and a young goat, paced us along the trail sometimes coming quite close. We took lots of pictures. Back at the VC a notice told people that it was likely that they would be turned back at about 0.75mi on the Hidden Lake Trail. Glad we got an earlier start! We drove down the east side stopping at Lunch Creek, I think, where we saw several bighorn sheep; two of them squared off and did the headbanging thing. We could hear the CLACK! We passed the parked-up Siyeh Bend (switchback) and some other full pullouts. Finally, we stopped at the Jackson Glacier Overlook for a great view of the glacier across St Mary Lake. The next stop was for “one of the most iconic views in the park” – Wild Goose Island with the high peaks of the range in the distance. Our turnaround point was at Rising Sun. We saw the Two Dog Flats Grill and checked out the souvenirs at the General Store (no ice cream). This would have been where we would have boarded the tour boat on St Mary Lake if Ginny and Wally had wanted to do it. On the way back we stopped at the Golden Staircase pullout where there were no signs or interpretive material about the building of the Road. We found a place to park at Sunrift Gorge and went upstream to see the narrow gorge and then downstream to see Baring Falls (about 0.3 mi each way). We stopped at Lunch Creek again because the bighorn sheep were still browsing close to the road. More critter pictures. Back over Logan Pass and down to Avalanche camp sometime after 1700. Ginny and Wally had stopped by and left a postcard and a chocolate bear claw for us on their way to maybe take the tour boat. We had some deviled eggs and chips for snacks and then C.J. heated up the leftover stew Ginny had sent with us. We downloaded our pictures to our computers. C.J.’s new computer has a nice long battery life, and mine is still pretty good, too.

24 August, Wed – Long driving day. We got up in the dark again so we could leave around 0800 for what the GPS said would be an eight-and-a-half-hour drive to McCall, ID. We left the park and detoured around Kalispell going to the east side of Flathead Lake through Big Fork. Just outside of Missoula we stopped at a McDonalds so C.J. could download the USHPA calendar that Nick wanted her to proof. After we both looked at it C.J. tried unsuccessfully to upload it to the server or send it by email attachment. Since we had already stopped once, we had to skip a chance for some frozen custard at Freddie’s Steakburgers in Missoula. We took Rte 12 over Lolo Pass stopping briefly at the summit before descending along the low-water Lochsa River – no rafters to be seen this time. We took a break at Kooskia where we turned off for the climb to Grangeville, ID, where we got gas (2.499). Then we climbed to White Bird Summit and descended the long grade into the Salmon River Valley. We passed through Riggins and it was already after 1630 on Mountain Time (since we were going back into that time zone at Riggins). There was a 20-minute construction delay as we climbed out of New Meadow so we got to McCall and the Ponderosa State Park after 1815. Fortunately the registration people were still working and there were lots of campsites to choose from. We selected a pull-thru near where we had camped two years ago. It was expensive though at something like $71 for two nights for out-of-state- with no ID Parks Pass. We relaxed in the relative cool at 5000 ft and ate some of our dwindling supply of deviled eggs, then C.J. made a stir fry with whatever veggies were still in good shape plus the burger patty she had brought along. Later we learned not to open the door with the lights on – little flying bugs by the hundreds came in to flutter around the lights.

25 August, Thu – C.J. had contacted Belinda on Wed and set up a meeting time of around 1130, so there was time to do a paddle on Payette Lake before then. We had overnight-soaked French toast with mixed jams and then set off to the park boat launch. There was no one else there so we were able to unload the boat and gear up before bringing the car up to the parking lot. We headed off to the north hoping to get to the end of the peninsula we had driven to the top of two years ago. It was only about two miles (as the crow flies) and there was no wind, unlike what we had encountered on Wed when we arrived. It took a bit longer than an hour to go and return. On the way, as we were passing the rock formation known as Hen and Chicks, a speeding powerboat must have hit a chunk of floating wood because there was a loud BANG and something flew into the air behind the boat which then came to a stop. We hung around a short time to see if they were going to sink and need some help, but they motored slowly away toward the nearest shore. We continued on until just short of the two islands at the end of the peninsula, then turned back. We were out of the water and on our way by 1130. Belinda was already preparing lunch by the time we arrived at the McCall RV Resort and their Spartan toy hauler. The tomato-basil salad with goat cheese was very good as were the fillo-wrapped filling fried on her Komin cast-iron skillet. After lunch Belinda took us on a walk down the Payette River past a new development of McMansions. When we returned we visited a while and then drove into town with Belinda (Davis rode his bike) to Ice Cream Alley  where the servings were “mountain-size” and delicious. We dropped Belinda off and returned to camp for showers. Along the way we passed Worldmark McCall south of Wooley St, one avenue east of Davis Ave. We had agreed to do dinner with Davis and Belinda so at 1900 we picked up Belinda at the RV park (well, it was closer to 1930 because we had to go back for the blue-barb marmalade for Belinda). We ate at Southside Grill and Cantina located at the north end of the airport, and noted for its crashed airplane embedded in the roof. The food and drinks were adequate but I probably wouldn’t return (if they are even there – we were the only dinner guests). But it was fun to spend some more time with Davis and Belinda.

Chief Joseph bronze in Joseph, OR

26 Aug, Fri – I wanted to get going at 0800 because the GPS had shown that while the straight-line distance Wallowa Lake State Park was only sixty miles, the route by road was 176 miles and would take four hours. However, we didn’t get up until 0715 so we didn’t get out of the campground until just after 0900. We were lucky to have only a few minutes to wait at the construction on Rte. 55 and we were soon on Rte. 95 going south through Tamarack (big lumber mill), Council and Cambridge where we turned NW and wound down to the Snake River at Brownlee Dam. We crossed at the bridge just below the dam and drove along the west side of the Snake until Oxbow Dam where we started uphill going over a couple of summits of 5000 and 6000 ft. We stopped at the Hells Canyon Overlook about three miles off the paved Forest Service road; it was a good view but you could not see the bottom of the canyon where the Snake flowed. Our gas was getting low as we approached Joseph; the low-gas light came on just outside town. So we pulled into the one Chevron station in town and filled up (2.809). By then it was around 1300 (PDT) so we drove directly to Wallowa State Park hoping that there would still be sites available on a Friday. There were a number of sites to choose from but they were all in C Loop where the restroom was being demolished so it would be a long walk to the next nearest restroom [But at least my disabled vet pass got us two nights camping for no charge]. After getting set up, we had lunch at the picnic table and C.J. spotted a paraglider soaring Mt. Howard. That gave us a bit of an impetus to get going over to the Wallowa Lake Tramway. The operator fortunately had a phone we could use to call Todd Wiegan since our ATT-based phones had no coverage (except for emergency calls). Todd gave us the info about the site and told us that today was the best chance for a flight since it was supposed to be windy and the wrong direction on Saturday. C.J. got hold of the soaring pilot (Peter) on the radio (151.625) and got an update on conditions. We also ran into another pilot who was doing “laps” (he was on his fourth) who told us

Wallowa Lake from the tram

about the launch, too. It was getting pretty late by the time we had driven down to the LZ at the delta where the Wallowa R empties into the lake and returned to park in the shade across from the Tramway station. We filled out the paperwork for the lift operator and had our USHPA cards and IDs copied, paid the $28 ea for the lift and loaded onto the gondola for the long ride to the top at 7800 ft. (or maybe a bit higher because the trail went down from the upper lift station. About halfway down the lefthand trail we stopped because we thought we might have taken the wrong trail. C.J. went a bit farther down the trail while I bushwhacked east until I ran into the middle trail. I followed that back until I thought I was below where we had left our packs and then bushwhacked uphill. I was lucky to come out close to where C.J. was waiting for me. She hadn’t found anything but the trail continuing down with no sight of the big orange windsock on launch. I called Todd (the phone worked up on Mt. Howard!) and he said we were on the right trail and just had to go farther until we hit a junction and then take the Valley Overlook Trail which continued down even more. We eventually spotted the windsock and were soon at the smooth, grassy launch, a great improvement over the old one on a scree slope that we had launched from 15 years ago. C.J. took a number of tries to get off as conditions were changeable with some big gusts and some crossing from the left (west), plus the new-site jitters. I managed to get my wing overhead on my first try and got into the air at 1646. It took me a while to get settled and comfortable enough to make use of the widespread lift. I got to 8500 from the 7800 launch; meanwhile C.J. had climbed to 9500 and run into turbulent air, maybe a shear layer. I flew out above the bump out front to the left and worked some lift, but mostly I was going toward the big moraine on the east side of Wallowa Lake. I flew along it a ways until I got down near the top of it then turned back. There was more lift and I got back up several hundred feet. Then I flew west across the state park to the boat launch, and returned to the delta where I did a bunch of s-turns in the buoyant air and a final that took me farther than I expected, just missing a streambed and having to run it out. (0:34). C.J. landed a few minutes later and we packed up in the sand. The sun had already set behind the mountains to our west before we landed. I walked the quarter-mile back to get the car and met C.J. in the parking lot. We tried to get hold of Todd to see if he wanted to go out to dinner with us but, of course, our phones did not work and neither did the radio. Oh well, C.J. fixed a great dinner of stir-fried vegies with some pasta and ham. Later we finished up recording our last couple of days in our journals.

C.J. on Hurricane Creek Trail

27 Aug, Sat – We slept in until the sun was up – which wasn’t all that late because we’re in the next time zone and on the far eastern side of it. After breakfast we drove to Joseph where the USFS office was closed on the weekend, but there was a small Farmers Market which we visited. Right next to it was the visitors center and the guy who was manning the desk had information about the hike we had chosen: Hurricane Creek to Slick Rock Creek. He even let us make photos of the relevant pages from the guidebook. Meanwhile, we also picked up messages from Todd about what he was doing and how the weather looked. He thought there was only a small window when conditions would be good and the next four days didn’t look so hot either. Driving out of Joseph to the west, we found Hurricane Cr. Road and followed it to the end at the trailhead; surprisingly, it was mostly paved and there was still room in the small parking lot (~5000 ft) (we had expected a huge crowd as it was a beautiful Saturday at the end of summer) (1105). The trail ascended moderately along Hurricane Creek reaching the Eagle Cap Wilderness boundary at 0.75 mi at an obvious avalanche swathe. At 1.5 mi we crossed a meadow with several dry streams, one or all of them could have been Deadman Creek. Mt. Sacajawea, the highest peak in the wilderness was visible in the clearings. At around three miles we hit a pair of long switchbacks which carried us above the creek gorge and to the cascades of Slick Rock. There were several people up on the upper levels enjoying the water but we pushed on to find a place to have lunch with a little shade and some views of the mountains. We found it about a half mile up the trail (5800 ft) (around 1320). After lunch we returned to Slick Rock and filled my empty water bottle. Then we used the new USB Steripen to purify it; the pen needed a few minutes of charging using a power bank, but then worked fine, especially considering that it had sat in my pack without being charged for several months. [On the way in we had passed several hikers and a ranger who had all been working as volunteers farther into the wilderness. They pay $300 each and their food, tents, chairs, stoves and tools are packed in by horse and mule. They go in on Sunday, work Mon and Tue, have a day off on Wed, work Thu and Fri and then hike out on Sat. We were overtaken on the way out by their pack train.] We reached the trailhead right around 1600 and returned to the State Park for showers. On the way we contacted Todd and arranged to meet for dinner at Embers Brewhouse at 1930. On the way back to camp we stopped at our “traditional” ice cream shop across from the tram for something to tide us over until dinner. Back at camp we downloaded our photos from camera to computer. Around 1915 we drove along the lake (and moraine) to town and found Embers. Todd wasn’t there yet so we chose an outside table near one of the firepits. A text let us know that he’d be there shortly, and a few minutes later he joined us along with his significant other, Whitney, whom we had not met before. There were more than a dozen microbrews on tap and you could go up to the bar and get a sample of any of them before you made your choice. C.J. chose a pineapple cider and I had a Pelican Crème Ale. We split a sausage calzone and for an additional $4 we got two big salads. It was fun catching up with Todd and getting to know Whitney. We had one of the local tourist magazines with us and Todd was featured in an article about paragliding at Mt. Howard. The author mentioned that Todd had flown across Hells Canyon of the Snake into Idaho for the longest flight from Mt. Howard. We found out what the article had left out that he had landed at Mackay Bar on the Main Salmon River far from any roads, and hitched a ride out on a raft. It took two days to get down to the takeout point near Riggins. Apparently the Wallowa Tram people really like Todd for all the business he brings in – not just the tandems but also the visibility of people flying and landing on the beach near where the Wallowa River empties into the lake. Anyway, they include Todd under their own insurance so he did not have to go through the RRG and USHPA for his insurance. I didn’t know that the season is pretty short; it doesn’t begin until the lake drops down enough for the beach to be exposed and that was only about two weeks ago. We stayed at our table talking until the staff was closing the place up around us at 2130.

28 Aug, Sun – Up at 0645 as it got light (and we had had a restless night). We had cold cereal and got packed up pretty quickly. Then we went down to the marina to see the dragonboats and some of the nine teams who were competing in races. We didn’t stay for the races themselves but it was fun to see the colorful boats with their dragonhead prows and dragontail sterns. We pulled out of Wallowa State Park shortly after 0900 and drove through Joseph and Enterprise stopping a few times to look south to Hurricane Canyon and Mt. Sacajawea (on the east) and the Hurricane Divide (on the west). We stopped again at the Joseph Canyon Overlook. Then we descended into the deep canyon of the Grande Ronde and climbed up the other side to the high plateau again. We descended once more near Asotin to the Snake River. At Clarkston we stopped for gas at Costco even though the GPS gave us an incorrect address on the first try. We took SR 12 down the Snake and then up over another high divide into the Palouse. We stopped for lunch at Palouse Falls State Park which was pretty busy with daytrippers [There’s not much of a campground there, and only for tenters]. From Washtucna we took SR26 west along the Saddle Mountains to hit I-90 near Vantage. At Ellensburg we found a place to park just west of the CWU campus and got an ice cream at the Winegar’s located in Jerold’s Bookstore. We were really low on gas as we approached North Bend so we stopped at the Warrior Station near Ken’s Trucktown at Exit 34 (2.549). We were in the driveway at home about 1740.

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.