Chelan July 10

Finally the winds changed to the "normal" SW direction and fairly light, so a straightforward out and return to Sims Corner (95km) was called.  Getting over to the rim on a SW day is much easier and less stressful so getting established wasn't much of an issue for me today, and I was able to connect to the clouds on the way to Sims and stay high for most of the flight.

On the way back to Chelan Falls, looking NW.

The winds on the plateau were actually very south which meant it was a crosswind both ways rather than a headwind on the way back.  Cloudbase was around 3900m and up there it was nice and cool, and actually a tailwind back from Sims!  Lower down it was a headwind, so I tried my hardest to stay high and avoid the headwind.

On the way back I saw a reserve toss just east of Mansfield and the pilot came down right next to the main road in a wheat field, no injuries.  Don't know why he tossed but the landing looked soft (as the wheat is 4' tall) and he was very convenient to the retrieve :)

The clouds also co-operated in that a nice cloudstreet set up just as we were coming back from Sims, and when the inevitable blue hole appeared near the edge of the rim, I tanked up to 3600m at the last cloud and was able to make it over the rim no problems and into goal with a bunch of other pilots.  PS the rim is actually higher than the plateau, so when you are trying to make it back over the edge to Chelan Falls, you have to take into account the fact that you are gliding into rising ground and adjust your glide ratio calculations accordingly :)

No fly day in Chelan July 9

The fire is growing as the day heats up.

We had wicked thunderstorms last night...camping at the tree farm we eventually smelled smoke but couldn't find any fire nearby to need to evacuate our tent, but the next day we discovered that the Butte had been hit with multiple strikes and was on fire.  A TFR while the fire crews fought the fire, plus the risk of additional daytime thunderstorms meant the day was cancelled so it was time to visit friends in Mansfield and go swimming at Summer Falls.  Another hot day with temps in the 100's!

Swimming and hiking at Summer Falls.

Update: we've been told the TFR is lifted so it's back to flying the Butte tomorrow!

Chelan July 8

Christine setting up with the fire in the background.

Task was pretty straightforward...a big 30km TP around Sims Corner then north to goal in Omak.  I'm not quite sure why a Sims TP was included as it doesn't add any significant real distance and there wasn't any safety issue needing to keep us on the rim that I could see.  Essentially that TP meant that we needed to fly to Omak via the rim, and given the wind conditions (like previous days, variations of east) I wasn't too happy about it.  I would have preferred a task that allowed us the option of flying to Omak via the west airport side rather than restricting us all to the rim.

Anyways, the east wind meant the rim was lame and many pilots arrived low and ended up scunging north...some made it high enough to jump the powerlines while others (me included!) never got high enough for the powerline jump and ended up landing in either Farnham or McNeil canyons.  I spent over 1 hour below the rim edge, trying to get high enough to at least think about jumping back to the powerlines, but it wasn't gonna happen and eventually I got so low I had to head out to a safe LZ.

Back at HQ now and many pilots have landed out near Brewster or Bridgeport so retrieve is busy finding them.  The good thing about landing next to the main road in McNeil canyon is that I got back early and was able to get 2 swims in.  Silver lining and all that :)

Chelan July 7

Another hot day in Chelan, and it was a late start and stable-feeling.  Getting up on the rim was quite tough and a bunch of us tried for 45 minutes.  We could have committed to flying to the powerlines and onwards to Mansfield, but our motivation level was low due to no official retrieve if we landed out and the need to be back early enough for the pilot's meeting :)  So after festering on the rim edge we landed at the Chelan Falls park LZ for a nice leisurely packup and swimming.

Some pilots battled it out to Mansfield and apparently it got better as the afternoon went on.  The past few days it seems to be better later: something to keep in mind until the next weather system moves through and resets things!

Chelan July 6

Getting up to cloudbase near Brewster

We thought it was gonna be lightish winds from the south but it ended up being quite significant from the SE, which made crossing to the rim harder than usual.  A bunch of people opted to fly the airport side north, while those of us who crossed to Farnham canyon had to scunge along the rim pretty much all the way to Brewster where we finally got 3400m.  Alex and I were team flying up to this point, but as we dove off the edge of the rim at Brewster we got separated as he opted to take the middle-of-the-valley route while I crossed to the east side of highway 97.

The lift on the other side wasn't very good and the SE winds kept blowing me off the rim; it was hard to stay established over there.  I finally got a bit low at which point the valley breeze kicked in and I ended up landing just south of Okanagon at around the 75km mark with a Seattle pilot.

Those who had taken the more in-valley route had a much better line and were able to stay higher and out of the valley breeze and keep going north: to Omak, Tonaskat, and Oroville.  Alex made it to Oroville for something like 140km, and several pilots made it to Tonaskat at 125km.

Many pilots landed very soon after going on glide from the Butte, but those that went back up for a reflight ended up getting a much better #2 flight.  I was pretty happy to not have bombed out like yesterday :) but it would have been nice to keep going until at least the 100km mark.  Since I was in front of the small group I was with, the other pilots were able to watch my line and take a different one if it seemed to not be working…sometimes it doesn't pay to be in front :)  Also note to self…when it's SE and blowing off the rim, once past Brewster it may be better to fly the middle of the valley rather than committing to either side.  A few years ago on a similar wind direction day those pilots who flew the middle of the valley got the furthest…I think by catching the east-side thermals as they lean over into the middle of the valley.  If we have another day like today and we end up going north, I may try that line!

Chelan July 5

Forest fire SW of Chelan, with the launch Butte on the right.

Well I sunk out on the rim and had a long (2+ hours) hike out over hill and dale before I found a ride to the Chelan Falls LZ.  But I'm OK with it since I'd rather get my sinking-out-on-the-rim over with now, rather than do it next week during the comp!

Heard Martin and Mia on the radio as they were towing at Mansfield.  Alex was with me on the glide to the rim and was a bit higher; he got away and is currently on his way to Reardon.  He hasn't landed yet but I imagine he will land at Reardon to avoid the Spokane airspace (we checked the charts before leaving Canada!) for his new personal best of something like 160km!!!!  I'm now on my way to pick him up...

Forest fire to the SW of Chelan just started up today; hope it doesn't get too big or shut the flying down here.  It's sunny and hot!

June 20 Summer solstice party!

The gang on Elk on Solstice Day.

More photos are here!

It was that time of year again, when the Elk hike-n-fliers head up to Elk for an overnight stay before flying down the next morning.  Alex and I decided to join in the fun, but instead of hiking up Elk, we'd try to fly there from Bridal and top-land Elk with all our camping gear, saving the hike up.

As the upper shade moved in our plans changed from "let's fly Bridal a bunch and then eventually head over to Elk and top-land" to "let's try not to sink out".  Going to Elk was a long exercise in patience as the lift was extremely light and it was slight NE winds too, which made the almost-thermals drift in unusual directions.  When we got to Elk it was another patience-fest to not only avoid sinking out, but also getting high enough to top-land the meadows and not get rotored by the north wind at the same time (as the meadows face SE-SSW).

Alex managed to eventually get high enough to do a fly-on-the-wall on the Elk meadows but I was only able to get as high as the lookout, which is about 50m below the actual meadows.  I could see the meadows plus all the Elk hike-n-fliers cheering me on, but I was unable to get that extra 50m!  Arghh!  Finally, after over 1 hour of trying to get that extra little bit I bailed and landed at Eddy's.

Alex, being the very nice boyfriend  :) , stashed his gear and descended the trail so we could share the burden of getting my glider plus comp harness plus camping gear up to launch.  We arrived to find a bonfire already burning and Eddy offering up his famous calf liver stew, plus lots of alcohol already evident!  Music and stories as we watched the sun set behind the clouds and then it was time to sleep under the stars and await dawn only a few hours away.

Brightening skies this morning at 4:30am and launching from the meadows by 7am and then we were all back at the LZ for breakfast.  Another successful Solstice Day Party!  I had a really fun time despite failing to top-land and look forward to next year's :)

Woodrat June 14

Tracklog is here.

Another high pressure day; this time no cu's.  It was already west wind up on launch and I was concerned about it getting windy in the valley later on (as it did yesterday) so I only did a short flight.  Found the convergence at Burnt (west down low and north up high) and used it to get high enough to cross to Rabies and then it was an easy transition to the Longswords LZ.  The winds did indeed pick up in the LZ but not as strong as the day before so there was less hoopla as pilots were actually coming in with forward ground speed this time :)

A bunch of pilots went up to mid launch for an evening flight where the north wind finally won out against the prevailing west wind so it was easy soaring on the north ridges leading down into the Hunter LZ.  I opted to skip that flight and drive a vehicle down so we'd all be down in time for dinner at the awesome My Way Cafe.  If you visit Woodrat Mtn, be sure to go here for lunch/dinner!  It is in the same parking lot as the Ruch grocery store and they do very good meals with local ingredients!

I am not staying for the Rat Race as I have other comps to attend this summer; hopefully they will have nice (and not stable like it's been for the past few days) weather and safe tasks.  Good luck to all the Canucks attending!

Woodrat June 13

Hiking Stein Butte.  Applegate Valley in the background.

Tracklog is here.

After skipping flying yesterday in favour of a hike up Stein Butte by Applegate Lake, we headed up to launch for a flight before it blew out.  Moderate north winds meant launching on the north side and then it was an easy glide over to Rabies and Mt. Isabella before heading west to Grants Pass.  The winds were picking up as we flew west and I turned back at Humbug Peak, before landing at Longswords LZ.  While it was strong north up high, down in the valley it was SW which meant at some point the air was going to get interesting!  Fortunately Riss radioed us the altitude of the switch and I was prepared for it and landed right in front of the tasting room where shade and wine was waiting.

Blown out for the rest of the afternoon but it was nice to get a flight in before the winds kicked in.

The Whaleback June 11

Photos are here and tracklog is here.

Mighty Mt. Shasta in northern California

Down in southern Oregon for a few days to escape the rain and gloom of Vancouver.  Initially we were planning on flying Woodrat, but we got the word that a group of pilots were heading to Whaleback, in northern California, so we decided to join up with them instead.

Whaleback is a flying site right next to the Mt. Shasta volcano, east of the I-5.  The local club has recently done a bunch of work on the launch to smooth it out and make it larger so it is quite buff at the moment.  Both the launch and LZ are 2-wheel drive accessible, although the launch road still had snow in spots.  Launch is at 2270m!

Up on launch we took some time to enjoy the view of Mt. Shasta right in our faces and then it was time to fly!  Winds in the air were a bit on the strong side from the SW by Shasta but more NW by Herd Peak, which is another flying site just to the north.

XC over the back is possible; pilots have flown to Lakeview from here, and Klamath Falls is quite reachable (83km, although you have to land short to avoid Klamath Falls airspace).  The conditions weren't really conducive to over-the-back XC so a bunch of us decided to fly to Herd Peak and Sheep Rocks which are to the NW of launch.

I was able to get high enough at Herd to make it back to Whaleback while everyone else landed and went up for flight #2.  Fortunately for me :) I got to 3590m while they were driving back up, as a slight convergence had set up with the SW wind from the I-5 hitting an up-high East wind coming from Klamath Falls.  Something was definitely happening conditions-wise as clouds were starting to form, lenticulars as well, and I could feel the wind picking up in the air.  By the time I went out to land it was definitely on the strong side with pilots landing going backwards.  At the same time we observed a cu forming on Shasta, but shortly thereafter the winds died and it reverted to the "normal" wind (according to the locals) for that time of day.

Whaleback is definitely a very scenic flying site and there is excellent XC potential, so long as you are committed for the first hop over the back before you can connect with highway 97 headed to Klamath Falls.  But you have to respect the fact that it's a high mountain desert site, with wind, strong lift, and turbulence associated with such sites.  Best to connect with a local to make sure you get all the pertinent information.  Local flying information is here.