| Author |
Comment |
| Ernie Camacho
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Sunday, August 25
Greg Sugg, Matt Jagelka, Bob Stanley, Scot Huber and I caravan, sort of, from Carson City down 395 to Lone Pine and stake out campsites
at Tuttle Creek campground. Scot volunteers to drive tomorrow.
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| Ernie Camacho
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Monday, August 26
Scot lucks out. The wind is strong from the North. None of us wants to fly. Scot hangs out in his trailer.
Greg, Matt and I hike up Tuttle creek into the mountains to explore the Sanctuary - an amazing stone building that was
erected over the course of, what, 20 years, way up on the side of a granite mountain. The effort expended to build this
place was amazing. And now it stands naked, roof peeling off, rafters exposed to the elements. It's skeleton will take
generations to be erased.
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| Ernie Camacho
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Tuesday, August 26
Greg loses the Ro-sham-bo and has to drive today. I make it to Big Ears, not being able to find any lift at all as I approach
Black Mt. Bob makes it as far as the Gunter LZ. Matt makes it almost to the Piute LZ. We chase Scot as he goes 110, into
the hills past Basalt. Greg's mini-van almost catches fire.
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| Ernie Camacho
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Wednesday, August 27
I can't get up on Winoga and land at the bailout. I volunteer to take over driving duties from Greg. We chase Scot 120 miles
up the road past Basalt.
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| Ernie Camacho
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Thursday, August 28
Scot leaves today, going up to Winnemucca and more flying with Lori Allen.
I only make it one ridge away from Winoga, losing it at Owens Point and landing at the bailout.
Bill Vogel and Cathy arrive. They stay at the RV park near Diaz Lake in their big RV.
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| Ernie Camacho
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Friday, August 29
While setting up I find a ding in my keel, so I'm not flying. I volunteer to drive for the Berkeley Boys.
Bill Vogel makes it up the west side of the valley to Crawley Lake.
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| Ernie Camacho
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Saturday August 30
I manage to get to Bishop, in spite of a bad radio
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| Ernie Camacho
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Sunday, September 1
Greg drives home today.
My radio is bad again, can't transmit well. I bail out of the Sierras at Whitney portal, making it out to
the highway at Manzanar where I fly over Cathy in Big Red. I land just short of Independence.
Bob Stanley fights his way up the shoulder of Black Mt., only to lose it when he leaves too early. He lands at the
foot of the mountains near Warm Springs Rd. Bill makes it all the way past Janies and is on his way to Basalt, on the
other side of Montgomery pass. But, he loses radio contact with us and fears his radio has gone bad. He doesn't realize that
losing contact on the back side of Boundary Peak is common. He circles down out of the lift and lands at the foot of
Montgomery Pass for 103 miles.
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| ben
rogers
|
flight report:
sunday's flight at owens.
9,200' on Walt's Point in Owens valley, September 1, 2002:
Sat. was nice, but as we couldn't get past Bishop (60
miles), I'll fast
forward to Sunday:
Sun. morning dawned
clear as usual, and because of a lack of post-flight
prep on Sat.
night we didn't get to launch until about 10:30. Walt's point
was
cool and the cycles were better than the previous day. Mt. Whitney
was
wagging it's crags at us in an accusatory "your late"
fashion. By then,
small cu's were popping up here and there. I
was screwing around with a
video cam which never did get set up,
so Wayne was long gone by the time I
launched. Bob Kanick
volunteered to drive, but he was getting to his car via
hang
glider so he was gone as well.
Anyway, I finally launched
about noon and got stuck at launch and the first
spine for about
a half-hour. By this time, Wayne was claiming to be at
Onion
Valley and I felt left out. I had learned the previous day
that the thermals
were big and predictable over every spine, so I
only circled in the big ones
with a consistent 5-800 fpm up in an
effort to speed my ascent to 13-14k. In
order to play catch-up,
I'd spend a few minutes climbing and then would fly
straight to
the 2nd or 3rd spine down the ridge. I never did go back into
any
canyons or rock faces, instead I choose to fly straight and end up
at
10-11K a few miles down the ridge.
Around Onion Valley
I was a tad cautious due to the all the stories about
severe
turbulence there, so I climbed to 15k and pulled in for the big
dash.
It was turbulent, but I don't think the bumps were that
bad. It's just that
the fear factor seems to magnify when you're
at 15k looking down at
12-14,000 foot rocky crags and spires.
Imagine that. So with the bar pulled
in slightly at half vg, I
made about 40mph (gps indicated groudspeed) and
gradually closed
the gap between myself and that wacky guy Wayne.
By this
time, the only people on our frequency that were going for the
holy
grail of 100 miles were Wayne and Paul Sussman. None of us
talked about it
(I don't think I even consciously thought about
it), but it seems clear to
me now that we were all wildly driven
to get there. Since the consensus is
that you need 15,000 feet to
cross the valley, I finally caught up to Wayne
and Paul as they
prepared for the leap. We all holed up at Mt. Tinemaha so
as to
get enough altitude. Thank god Henry Bittner lent me an oxygen
bottle,
because I don't think I would have ever gotten as far as
I did. The O2 let
me circle to 15,700 without any trepidation
except that which comes with the
territory anyway.
On
cu/que, we all headed east torward Big Pine about 2pm. The valley
is
about 10 miles wide, and we knew the crossing would be
difficult. I arrived
at Big Pine at about 11k with Paul circling
below me at about 9,500k. How he
made it across, I'll never know.
His was the first of a number of miraculous
low saves that both
he and Wayne pulled off. I was getting desparate myself
around
Big Ears (satellite dishes), and tried to milk every bit of lift
I
could find. Luckily, I made it to Black Mountain at about
8k+something which
put me about two hundred feet over the lowest
knob.
Fortunately, the thermals were there.
Unfortunately, it was nasty as hell.
Fortunately, I've been
in kick-ass turbulence before.
Unfortunately, that didn't make
me feel any better.
Oh well, I gradually fought my way up
the lower slopes of Black Mtn. Twice I
was pushed over-the-falls
and went into freefall for a second. Fatigue and
glider control
were real issues, so my VG was down to 1/4. I radioed Wayne
and
Paul to get ready for some real action if they made it up. Wayne
was
making noise like he was going to land, and I didn't know
where Paul was
just then. After about 20 minutes, I climbed to
12k and started to head
North. I was feeling pretty good by this
time, but I was soon to learn that
the next 10 miles were going
to be pure hell. All of the mountains had long
fingers that crept
down to the valley at a gentle slope. In between each was
a
gnarly canyon. I don't know for sure why the air was so trashy, but
I do
know that making that 10 miles was some of the most
difficult flying I've
ever done. I have an abiding respect for
any pilot capable making that
crossing. The entire 10 mile
stretch involved wrestling wild, scrappy
thermals, climbing to
9.5-11k in strong lift with small cores, and then
getting
hammered in 800-2000 feet per minute sink during the crossing to
the
next spine. Of course, us hang glider pilots know that the
lift is stronger
and smoother as you get higher, so each crossing
meant that we aimed for the
highest point on the spine that we
thought we could make, thereby leaving us
once again 200 feet
over the rocks in yet another adolescent and
testosterone-enraged
thermal.
The whole time I watched Paul pull off incredible
low saves as he worked the
lowest point on the spines. Wayne also
clung to life and I heard him
announce that he had finally made
Black.
The hope I clung to was that it would get easier when
I reached the point in
the ridge where the long spines
disappeared and the cliff faces went
somewhat vertical for 5,000
feet.
I was right. The minute I reached the steeper section
of the ridge (by White
Mtn?), I started to climb like a lawn
chair tied to balloons. My altitude
was soon 15k. I pulled my VG
to 60% (I was too weak to pull it on further at
this point) and
headed straight North towards boundary peak. Bob indicated
he had
gassed up, bought beer, and was starting the chase North.
Wayne
announced he was also at 11k and headed North, so the idea
of making 100
miles was beginning to seem real for all of us.
The next 30 miles were uneventful except for the raw beauty.
I did not make
a single turn the whole time. In fact, I had the
bar pulled in slightly so I
would go fast and not get too high.
My altitude ranged from 14,000 to 16,050
feet, and I just aimed
for Boundary Peak and sucked oxygen. My hands were
numb with
fatigue, my back hurt, my mind started to wander. Luckily,
the
flying was easy and I consciously reminded myself to enjoy
the view. I can't
describe it. I am still awed by the whole
experience.
So I flew over Boundary Peak and headed
Northeast at 15k. By this time Bob
had caught me, and while he
stopped to watch a Sonoma Wings pilot land, I
circled over the
gas station in Montgomery Pass and climbed from 10k to 12k.
This
was my last 360 in lift. I headed another few miles down Highway 6
and
then turned Northeast along some barren desert road. There
were thermals
everywhere but Bob wanted me to land and I was
tired, so I just flew
straight until I was about 1000' over and
then burned the altitude. A nice
headwind and bouyant air made my
landing very soft despite the fact that my
brain wasn't connected
to my legs and I just did a belly-flop in the sand.
It was all I
could do to push myself up on my hands and knees because for
some
reason my O2 tank now weighed about 50 pounds.
I stood there
in nowhere
and all I could do was stare.
I'm still
awestruck by the whole experience. Not much in life can be
as
rewarding as an experience like that.
Time: 6 hours,
10 minutes
Distance: 115.3 miles
Max Alt: 16,050
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| Ernie Camacho
|
Monday, September 1, Labor Day
We all say good-bye to the Owens and head home.
|
| ben rogers
All
|
Thank you Sonoma
Wings: Owens Valley
As usual, flying with the Sonoma Wings crowd was enjoyable. It was
my first time at Owens Valley, so seeing familiar faces made the
site less intimidating. As it was, I lucked out and made 115 miles on
Sunday after 6 hours of flying. Although I didn't see anyone on the
way to Boudary Peak, two Sonoma Wings pilots (I think) were circling
near Montgomery Pass. Obviously, the skill level in your club is
quite high.
Anyway, the reason I'm writing is to express
thanks for the graciousness your club members showed in dealing with
what turned out to be our Saturday boondoggle. Our retrieve vehicle
keys wound up in the air which led to a three stooges-like cascade
of events that made the airwaves resound with an overload of talk.
Then, despite the fact that two in our crew had a retrieve coming,
it was the Sonoma Crowd that gave us a lift since they were closer.
The stories were good, the beer was cold, and the oxygen was
needed (thanks Ernie).
p.s. Tell Greg to dust of his guitar.
ben
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Ernie Camacho
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Re: thank you
sonoma wings: Owens Valley
You're welcome, Ben!
It's nice to have new faces around the
campfire, and when they play guitar as well as you do, they're more
than welcome!
Ben was with a group of Bay Area pilots that included Paul Sussman,
Wayne Michelsen, SW'er Bob Kanick, SW'er Steve Acton, and Steve's
nephew from Georgia (?) who's name I don't remember, and who
entertained us around the campfire with his rendition of Saturday's
escapades.
The other group that we spent time with was the
Berkeley crew: Barry Levine, Brian Lee, Jan, Kent, Scott and Vlad (again
I didn't get last names). Another good group of pilots out to have
fun.
For those of you who missed the Owens, you missed a good
week, with mild westerlies and 100+ mile flights made most every
day.
Ernie
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| Bill
Vogel
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My Owens Flights
I did not get to the Owens 'till late Tuesday night. I flew on Wednesday
and only got past Bishop for 69 miles and then took Thursday off. So on
Friday I flew to Bishop then up the pass to Crowely Lake, past Mammoth, for
84 miles. I took Saturday off and flew Sunday past Janie's but I had to
stop since I lost contact with chase. Blowing off six thousand
feet was a big disappointment since I could have continued on. Still, I
got 103 miles for a flight which was great fun and too, I had called Janies as
my goal. What a great way to finish this season. I am at home now but
will be leaving in a week or more. I missed a lot of Sonoma Wingers at
the Owens. Bill v
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| Scot
Huber
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Owens
The
Owens was fantastic for me. Tuesday I set two personal bests of
longest duration, 6hrs. 11mns. and highest altitude 18300ft. I also
managed my first 100 miler there landing past Basalt for 111.4
miles. I crossed near Bishop airport and worked lite lift up the
valley till Laws where I went onto the Whites. It took some work to
get up but once high I blasted down the range not turning much. Hit
a head wind after Montgomery Pass and was on the ground soon
after.
Wed. I declared Basalt my goal and was off the hill first
at 11:30. Got to Tinnemaha easily in 1:45 mn. Left for the Whites at
15G but lost a lot of altitude going that way and also hit a major SE
wind so stayed to the west over the hills west of Bishop. Finally
came out at Bishop to try again but got drilled. I headed for the
ridge at the bottom of the alluvial fan north of town along the
river. This ridge runs for about 7 miles east and west as you come
down 395 into town. It ends across the river north of town. I ridge
soared this ridge it's entire length for 45 mn.s in a 20 mph SE
wind. I was getting below the top of it near the end as the winds
were lightening up. I was unzipped and had my LZ scoped out below. I
made a pass along the back spine again and hit some lift which I
turned in , I turned again and gained some more, turned again and
was drifting back of the top and knew I was in more than ridge lift.
I climbed in this lift from 4900ft. to 11G drifting north the whole
time. Finally had enough to head for the Whites and came in at the
base of White Mt. where a monster dust devil was lifting off along
the Hwy. I climbed to 15G before I left it and had an easy time from
there on out. I gained 3000ft. after leaving Boundary Peak on glide
toward Basalt getting to 18050ft. Crossed Basalt over 12G and worked
the hills toward Mina where I hit a NE wind which shut me down
again. Landed at the 120.7mi. mark 5hrs.46mn.
I headed to
Winnemucca the next day to spend the weekend with Lori. We flew Sat.
in beautiful looking conditions but both of us only got about a
half hour. Sun didn't look very good with high clouds and high
pressure but I managed a 70.1 mi. flight to Dunphy on hwy.80 past
Battle Mt. before the clouds turned off my engine.hh
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