Pemberton September 27

Well the days are getting shorter and the sun isn't getting as high in the sky anymore, winter is coming.  One of those rare crisp fall days where it's still thermic enough to fly for several hours, if you are patient enough!

After dropping the boys off on Miller Mountain for their hike up to the new hut and launch, I went to Upper MacKenzie for the afternoon flying.  Yesterday had been quite epic I was told by 5pm and the storms cleared, but today was decidedly stable despite the OK-looking clouds at around 2000m.  It was hard to stay up, let alone at upper launch height, and I spent most of my flight bobbing between lower and upper launches.  It was a good day for practicing my patient scratching technique!

Eventually around 3pm it "turned on" (as much as it does this time of year) and it became much easier to stay up, so more pilots launched.  I don't think anyone launched from lower and everyone had driven to the upper launch.  I don't think anybody got much above 1400m and it was not really XC-able, but you could stay up until the sun got low and it was time to land before the shade hit the LZ.

Nowadays the community centre is a no-go, so it's only the Wray's you can land at now.  Keep an eye out for standing water after all the recent rain (you can see it glinting through the grass) and land near the bridge for the driest land.  You can still pack up on the community property though!