At the Farm

Horse barn

Friday sunrise

Friday morning

The Midwest

I left home yesterday at 6:30am bound for Illinois and my annual trip to see family and hang out at the farm. The drive over the continental divide was the highlight. Groves of aspens were bright yellow at the higher elevations. In eastern Nebraska, it began to rain, and the wet weather continued to Des Moines. Gasoline prices ranged from $2.79 in Utah to $1.93 in Iowa for super unleaded with 10% ethanol. I filled myself with caffeine around 10pm and stumbled into my mom's place at 2:30am local time. The trip was exactly 1400miles, and I was pretty hammered when I arrived. We spent the day working at the farm -(she's got a long checklist to accomplish) The harvest has just begun, and I'll be sleeping out at the farmhouse. It's always good to come home for a visit. I'm a slave to dial-up this week, hopefully I'll be able to post pics in a few days.

Star Trails
I have a lot of HG related photos that are only going to spend time in my hard drive unless I share a few of them on the blog.

I took this photo just before dawn in Moab, UT near the cliff launch. It was about a 15minute exposure, the north star is just above the jeep. I've had about a 30% success rate with star trail photos. You can only get two or three pictures overnight, and I haven't had instant feedback that digital cameras provide.

This was another night camping in Moab. Print film instead of slide, and I have no idea of the exposure time. (I just woke up in the middle of the night and closed the shutter.) We tried to "paint" the juniper tree with headlamp light at the beginning of the exposure, but I don't think that had any effect. Looks like a satellite or airplane passed right through the frame.

Hot off the cell phone. Sam landing @ 4:15pm on Tuesday. I happened to be driving by the LZ on my way home from work and was able to give him the wind direction and snap a photo with the cell phone.

Speed Skiing

I was looking through my photo library and this subject came up. Speed skiing is the fastest non-motorized sport you can do "on earth." The world record is over 153mph. Ten years ago I was a ski bum in Colorado. My bosses were into speed skiing, and I joined them a few times in Snowmass.

"Speed" skis are 240cm heavy boards with bindings that have DIN settings from 14-20. My everyday skis are 184cm and the DIN setting is 8. Here are some general speed parameters:

Recreational skis and coat max speed: 55mph.
Downhill racers: 70-80mph.
Speed skis with rubber suit and fairings: 100mph+


Apparently things are pretty violent up to 120mph and then everything slows down. They say you start to ride a cushion of air instead of the snow. They had to do away with pointy helmets because people would turn their heads sideways at speed and wrench their necks. If you fall, you're supposed to remember to roll around so the suit doesn't melt to your skin. Crazy stuff.

So how did I do? I had the speed skis, the rubber suit, and the fairings. - Everything except the darth vader helmet. I had about a dozen runs over 90 and two over 100. They say that the part of the brain that processes risk doesn't fully develop until we're in our 20's. hmm. Yea, I'd agree.

For a 40 second video of a guy going just over 150mph click HERE Yes, he crashes...

The MAGIC formula is for sale: $500

I flew it yesterday. It flies sweet, and has a great sink rate.

You can find Adam's contact information HERE He's leaving the continent.

Sunday Flying

Photos: Adam West It's really great to have a friend with a new, sweet, digital camera body that loves to mess with it while I'm flying his glider :)

I had to pick up a PVC tube from Adam this morning, and what better place to trade gear than The Point? Winds were L&V and Adam's wife was planning on taking sled runs all morning in her PG. Adam was going to shuttle her back up the hill.

I showed up with only my harness and the wind was blowing in at about 4mph. We set up Adam's glider anyway in the hope that things would pick up. About 40minutes later, the wind did pick up enough to maintain on the ridge and I got a few flights in, dodging PG's low on the ridge.

Thankfully, there weren't a ton of PG's out, and the ridge didn't get too crowded. Enjoyed flying Adam's Magic Formula in the light lift. It's for sale for just $500! It comes with amazing juju as well - Airtime: 30min. Flights: 5.

Saturday morning

I'm sure there's still some fall left in the season, but for now, a winter switch has been flipped. Saturday morning I was in a hoodie and blanket at the computer looking out at the mountains.

As soon as the sun was up, I decided to drive into the hills to get a few leaf/snow photos.

The sun was working quickly to melt the snow as I drove through the forests at 7000ft.

I'm lucky to have access to these peaceful places to close to my house.

It's Sunday morning now, just before 8am. I'm going to head out to the Point now and see if I can catch a flight.

Fruity Pebbles

This is the third year I've been able to get wing mounted photos of the fall colors. Each year, the colors are different in timing and intensity. Of the three, last year was the most vibrant and diverse. The maples go first with their red and orange followed by the oaks and aspens. Last year, both changed in concert. This year the oaks lag behind.

Moisture during the year along with weather I'm sure plays a big role in the changing. The weather has been unusually wet the past 10 days with snow capping the peaks now. When I compare this photo to the ones from last year, I can see the colors this year are more dull and muted.

Wing mounted photos

My desire to get some wing mounted photos has returned, and I got a few nice photos last week in the mountains. Getting good wing mounted photos requires A LOT of preparation, attention to detail, and LUCK. Last week at The Point, I took the photos below.

First you have to set up the camera. Make sure your gear is clean and looks "cool". Get the framing right. Get the background and camera settings right. Body position, fly close to the ground, fly fast, be careful. Try to get every detail right... Then forget to cover the shutter release with your hand! Not to mention the camera mount is partially visible in the corner of the frame. Argh. It happens all the time.

This picture had a better body position, better hand placement, but the sky, ground, and helmet visor just didn't "pop" like the first picture.

I usually don't fly with a helmet visor. I like to feel the wind on my face. Last year during the fall, I went to the mountains to get wing mounted photos of the fall colors. The resulting pictures were stunning, but in many of the best photos, I had a scowl on my face or I wasn't smiling right. That's why I take pictures with the visor on. One less variable to ruin the photo.

I've also been less motivated to fly with mounts way out on the wing lately. They are much more of a hassle to setup and flying with them can completely compromise the airworthiness of the glider. I've been having a lot of discussion about the danger of different wing mounts with a HG photo guru lately. Even if the glider is airworthy, it's probably going to fly with a hell of a turn :)

There are a couple of pilots that are getting good photo results with point-and-shoot digital cameras. I'm about to make the jump to a digital camera body, and guess I'll have to investigate further to make sure a heavy digital SLR body is the way to go.

Flying Sept. 19, 2006

All photos: Adam West - Thanks!

Adam headed out to The Point at 6am, and I slept through his calls until seven. I answered the phone and heard him say, "I'm set up, there are a couple of people flying, and it's perfect." I replied, "Ok, I'll be there in 35."

When I showed up, I put on my harness, walked out to the ridge, and Adam landed so that I could take a hop in his glider. What a friend! The air was buttery and I had a great time skimming the ridge giving high-fives and picking flowers out of Dan McManus' hand.

Adam was obviously keen to get his glider back, so I planned on launching and flying it back to the tie-down area. I launched, did a couple of wingovers down the hill...and promptly began to sink out. I'd gone a little too low. As I was sinking out, I took the altitude I had and did a fly-on-the-wall about 1/3 of the way up the hill. Adam was waiting, so I quickly hiked the glider about 2/3 of the way up, re-launched and top landed. I set up my glider and we enjoyed the rest of the morning flying and talking with other pilots.

We headed toward my house and stopped for lunch. Conditions were pre-frontal and I thought that Inspo. might be good with strong south winds and an ok soaring forecast. I wanted to try and get more photos of the fleeting tree colors. The maples' color has already begun to wane, but the scrub oaks are now coming into color.

We were set up by 4pm, and I put a camera on the glider. Wind coming up the hill felt pretty good, and I launched first. I scratched low and close to the little launch ridge gaining and loosing fifty feet. After a few minutes, Adam joined in. We were both trying to hug the ridge and use the wind that was there to stay aloft until a thermal came through. The strong winds seemed to be breaking apart tiny, weak cores. I was able to find one little climb and gain 500ft. to take a couple of pictures, but a couple of minutes later, Adam was heading for the bailout LZ and I was heading for the cemetery LZ. I tried to make the most of the camera mount and took a few pictures as I stayed prone in ground effect. Broke down and headed over to pick up Adam. Great sunny fall day. Airtime: 1:40. Flights: 10

Snow down to 6500ft.

In 8 years here, I've never seen snow on the peaks so early in the year. Below is a view looking N. at Timpanogos.

The trees are in full color, and there looks to be a lot of snow at the tops of the peaks. Looking SE toward Rock Canyon

flying September 14, 2006

I woke up at 5:30am and headed out to the Point after a stop for coffee. Set up the Talon and took off just before 7am. Flew for 30minutes enjoying the south side for only the third time this year. I landed and began working on a camera mount, when Adam showed up.

Adam flying the Ultrasport

I got the camera mount worked out while Adam was setting up and we spent the morning chasing each other around and taking pictures.

The helmet may look cool, but it's sweaty and stinky inside, huh Adam?

Wind was strong and smooth conditions early in the day, changed to rowdy conditions by noon. Storms were on the way, so we headed out to get slides developed and have some lunch.

Flying with the camera mount. Check out the carabiner.

We were supposed to leave for a four day HG trip today, but unsettled weather in the west kept us home. With the chance of snow at higher elevations tomorrow night, we aren't ready for winter camping with the slim chance of airtime.

Air to air. Nice textured background. (GLIDER is FOR SALE)

We picked up the slides after lunch and went home to scrutinize them. The roll from yesterday contained probably five good photos. The roll from today contained none. The Point just isn't a very scenic flying site. Because of the lack of good background, I usually prefer to take low level ground skimming shots. There were a couple of good photos that I took, but the problem was my hand that triggers the release was raised, showing the release.

Air to air. Crappy Point background.

I was excited about the slides from yesterday though. They are really the ones that mattered. I'll post one or two when I get them scanned in a few days.

Of course, a picture of the boy.

We maximized our chances for airtime today and it was fun formation flying together. Thanks to Adam for continuing to provide photos to document our adventures. Airtime: 1:30. Flights: 5.

Flying September 13, 2006.

I spent a couple of hours this morning trying to rig a long camera mount above and in front of my leading edge. I finally got it rigged, but really didn't feel like taking off of the mountain with BIG unproven mount. So, I scrapped the mount idea and broke everything down. I got some work done for a couple of hours, but the warm day and the brilliant leaves motivated me to put a simple camera mount in the car and Amber offered to drop me off at the top.

I got everything set up, while the wind was blowing straight up the hill at 10mph. There are a few days a year when Inspo. and the surrounding mountains can be ridge soared, and I was hoping today was one of those days. I needed help because it was already late in the afternoon. I launched in a good cycle and worked a couple of cores close to the ridge. Got 500ft. over launch and immediately headed for rock canyon a couple miles away. My initial soaring gave me a false sense of security, and I soon found myself groveling at the north end of Rock canyon. I was either going to get up in the canyon, or land in the park below, so I went WAY deeper into the canyon that I've ever before. I figured if I was going to go down, I could at least get a couple of pictures of the cliff faces. Two immature goldens popped out of the cliffsides just like they did a couple weeks ago. They were above me and I was too low to pay much attention to them. I boated back and forth in front of the cliffs, and climbed 400ft. after almost 10 minutes.

I left the cliff faces and went back along the ridge finally hitting a good thermal. I crested the ridgetop in a couple of turns and began snapping more pictures of the colorful trees as I ascended. The one climb took me to 12,100ft. and now the flight got easy. I was high enough to take advantage of the higher winds aloft, so I rode Cascade ridge and jumped Provo Canyon over to Timp.

The face of Timp was working and I flew back and forth eventually getting to 13,200ft. Kept trying to line up a good photo. After taking a few pics over Timp. I flew back toward launch and wasted some altitude trying to get low over the trees again. On the way back, there was an airplane diving in and out of each spine on Cascade. I was above them and the view of their shadow on the mountain following them was cool. Took the rest of the roll of film over launch and headed out to the LZ. There was a soccer game taking up 1/2 of the field, but the wind was calm, so I could land in any direction. Ran out my landing in no wind. Airtime: 1:45. Flights: 1.

Salt Flats 06

All photos courtesy of Adam West...Thanks

I picked up Adam in SLC at 4:45am, for the drive out. He's just finished his doctoral studies at the U of U, after defending his thesis last week. As a result, a couple of HG trips are in order. Also, he's got a new digital camera body to experiment with.

We arrived before sunrise, and headed out on the flats to see how dry they were. A film crew was out in the middle, and we stopped to ask them what was up. They were filming a Honda car commercial and had a dozen or so gas pumps, old and new, placed in a line across the flats. They mentioned a chopper might be out during the day to film. We said we'd stay at least a mile away and continued on. The two speedways had been painted on the flats, but the racing won't start until next week, so other than the film crew, we had the place to ourselves.

When the sun broke the horizon, we stopped to take pictures. It's hard to convey the feeling of being out on the flats. It's disorienting, beautiful, and featureless. It's like being able to drive out into a glassy, opaque ocean.

Our picture spot was as good as any other, so we stayed while the sun rose, and set up.

The concept of diminishing returns We set up the Ultrasport, and unrolled 3000ft. of line. We'd never towed the Ultrasport before, and I was expecting it to be a bit yaw unstable. Adam pulled me up for two tows, and indeed, the glider did tend to oscillate a bit. We were getting used to our tow procedure and the towing pressures again, but other than a fast climbout, the tows went well. I was getting to 1700ft. agl on the 3000ft. of line. After the second tow, we took the time to unroll 7600ft. of rope and beef up the weaklink.

With about a mile and a half between us, we found that the push-to-talk switch was draining too much power from the radio to send and receive. I could only talk to Adam from the radio directly. This meant that we wouldn't be able to communicate our towing instructions. Adam wasn't keen to continue with the tow, and I was thinking about what I heard Bo Hagewood say earlier this year. "Come on man, you're overthinking it. Just pull me up! Come on, let's go!"

So with the radio on my shoulder, I told Adam to give me 30 seconds, and then accelerate. He came back with, "How many seconds?" I said, "three-zero. Thirty seconds!" With that, I picked up the glider and began to bring up tension by walking backward. I was still walking backward thinking I had about ten seconds left, when I was jerked forward and into the air.

The weight and drag of the rope was huge, and I could feel the pressure on my hips and in the glider. I was over 1000ft. before the rope lifted off the ground at the car. I knew this was the only tow I was going to take to try and get high, so I kept trying to climb. After a few miles, the top bridal was weighing down the basetube and the climb rate was small, so I released. The weaklink broke on release and the bridal went shooting down with the end of the rope. I'd managed to get 2650ft. off the ground.

Our 1/4 inch rope is just too heavy and thick to get efficient tows. The sweet spot seems to be 2500ft. of rope for a 1500ft. tow. After landing, we took a break to roll up a mile of rope and change pilots. Adam had to cut the rope every 1/2 a mile because the drag was too much to pull the rope in on the reel.

After a sandwich, it was Adam's turn. After a slightly sketchy launch, Adam went up well, and asked me if I wanted to turn around after a few miles. I said sure, and began a gentle turn with about a mile diameter. I towed Adam back to where we began and he pinned off at 1700ft. After he landed, we decided that his launch troubles were due to not enough initial resistance on the rope. We hooked him up again right away, and his second launch was much easier because he backed up and held more pressure.

After Adam was up, he said, "do you want to drive me around the edge of the flats?" "Sure," I said. He could see where the flats were wet or dry, and he directed me when and how fast to turn. He stayed on tow for about 20minutes as we made our way around the flats. We eventually ended back where we started, and Adam took a flight down. By this time, his finger was swelling up badly, and he decided to stop flying. He'd wrenched his elbow and finger earlier in the day when he was dragging some rope by hand while driving and it snagged.

I was happy to jump in the glider again, and I took six more tows to 1200ft. I did low turning landing approaches while Adam took pictures. We could see overdevelopment to the south of us, and decided that I should take one more long tow back toward the interstate and we would break down. After getting into the air and turning around to head back, the encroaching storm with lightning made us decide it would be better to pin off and break down on the flats.

We could see the salt being kicked up by the gust front in the distance and got the glider torn down and on the car by the time it arrived. We rolled up the rope in high winds while being pelted with horizontal salt hail in a whiteout. The storm passed quickly so we could find out way back to the access road.

It was a really rewarding day with unique contrasts in weather. After mostly cleaning the car, I fell fast asleep at 10pm. Airtime: 1:30. Flights: 9.

9/8/06 Second post. Salt Flats

I'm leaving at 4am to pick up Adam West and we're heading out to the salt flats. I've now got 8200ft. of rope ready to go in the hope that we can achieve a 5280ft. tow. We're pessimistic because of the diameter and weight of the rope, but it's going to be all about the experience.

I took this picture of the boy in 2004.

This is our set up spot last fall at the end of the access road. By mid-afternoon, water covered the background.

Simple pleasures

Two of my friends have mentioned that they check this blog daily and are disappointed when it hasn't been updated. It's getting infectious for me too. I've always been into journals.

I can't stop the biking. I've been averaging 30miles a day this week. I was going to go for 20 today, but it was feeling so good, it turned into 30. The paved trail just down the hill is beautiful. The fast flowing Provo River parallels it on the way up. At the top, the trail ends at South Fork Canyon which has a paved road 5 miles up to a girl scout camp. It's only a few miles out of town, but the feel is completely rural. South Fork creek parallels the road and provides constant background noise. Yesterday I saw deer and wild turkeys up in a meadow. The trees are turning now, and at the top, the vista of the mountains across the canyon are fantastic. When I hit the bottom of the canyon, I've been heading into town for an extra few traffic filled miles.

Toward the end of the ride yesterday, I was craving fruit salad. Peaches are in season here and I was so tempted to stop off in a peach grove and grab a couple. I DID get fruit this morning at the store and cut up a big bowl full of fruit for the next couple of days.

When I arrived home this evening, I enjoyed a bowl of fruit after feeding the dog. As I began to see what I could make for dinner, I spotted Amber's leftover yellow curry from yesterday. I snatched it off the shelf and began talking to the container, "Oh you're going to taste so good." I started some slow-cook rice while I had a shower and now I'm enjoying a bowl of curry and rice as I type this. Yes, it's delicious.

Biking, and Shoe-Goo

Gave up on the rollerblades many weeks ago and got the bike out to ride. I've been riding up the canyon off and on, but have hit it especially hard this week. Took my GPS along to see how far I'm riding and average speed, but the batteries crapped out 1/3 of the way into the ride.

Since the pavement beat up the boot on my harness in Big Spring, I'm refurbishing it with shoe-goo. Guys were using "Tool dip" in Big Spring, but the blue stuff didn't seem to have very good integrity. Shoe-goo sets up like hard rubber and lasts much longer.

Dustin let me in on the secret to getting the application right. Use your fingers and keep them wet. I dipped my fingers in a cup of water and flicked them dry before spreading the stuff.

Here you can see the last area I have to do. Dramatic difference between the worn out leather and the shiny new rubber.

Rhett the tug master (photos courtesy of fungi a.k.a. Tim?)

Rhett, the tug master, has this practice of flying his tug with the wing overlapping the waiting lineup of gliders.

He slides over as he reaches the front of the line and lands in front of the first glider.

He stops the plane just before the end of the tow rope reaches the waiting pilot, and off they go. Someone should time how long Rhett's wheels are on the ground. Certainly less than 30 seconds.

It's a pleasure to watch pilots like Rhett and Bobby when they are operating at full efficiency during a comp. At Big Spring in 2005, I was towed up by Rhett into a strong thermal. When we hit the core, Rhett banked the plane into a sharp turn to the left. I hung with him for about one circle before the core began to spit me out.

As I began to veer to the right, I could see Rhett watching me in the rear view mirror. I continued to progress into a lockout, as Rhett grabbed the side rail of the seat to turn around for a better view.

Just as I was getting toward a 90 degree bank and reaching for the release, Rhett gave me an hearty thumbs up with a BIG, evil smile on his face. I flew away laughing...

Lastly, is a photo of Johnny a moment before insertion.

New addition

You may remember that my brother and sister-in-law had to put their dog down about a month ago. He suffered from cancer and was a brother to our dog.

Here are the eyes of their new puppy, Sequoia.

Sequoia was sold to her original owners and then given back to the breeders a few weeks later. She showed signs of neglect.

The breeders wanted her to have a good home, and they contacted their vet about finding a responsible owner.

The vet told the breeders about Matt and Tarah's situation with the dog they lost a month earlier. The breeders immediately said they wanted Matt and Tarah to have the dog, and that's how everything came to be. Matt and Tarah are elated with their new dog and she gets along great with our other two goldens.

Labor Day

Went up to Sundance to watch my brother-in-law Matt in his final downhill race of the season. This vista is from the bottom of the mountain looking west.

Here is Matt in action. It's his first season racing downhill. He placed first in his class yesterday AND first overall for the series in the sport class. He would have placed third in the Expert class, the next class up, yesterday. He's been kicking ass on his "freeride" bike against all the guys with downhill machines.

This is an 18 year old kid who recently placed 10th in the world for his age group in New Zealand. (he was flying)

A gap jump further up the course.

Matt's buddy and teammate, Riley on course.

Flying September 2, 2006

Eventually you have to pay your dues... Bruce and I hooked up @ 2pm and went up to Inspo. We remarked on the way up that the trees had seemed to get more colorful within 24 hours. It happens fast here and only peaks for a couple of days.

Apparently three paragliders had launched before we arrived and only one stuck. The two that sank out came back up while we were setting up and relaunched with good results. Bruce and I were ready soon after the paragliders, and he took the initiative to launch first.

Bruce waiting to launch

Bruce hooked into something soon after launching and I ran off the hill to join him. By the time we topped out, he was 400ft. over and I was 200ft. over. He went north and I went south and we both continued to get lower as we scratched. I had the VG most of the way on and just couldn't drive the glider exactly where I wanted it when I hit a bit of lift. I made one turn in sink and it was time to head for the bailout. Bruce worked low in the foothills, and eventually got up well. I had a good landing in the bailout in light NW winds. Walked over to the river and broke down in the weeds.

Between the nose wire and the leading edge, there are two houses. My house is the one on the left that's being bisected by the fence pole.

I decided that since my performance was poor, I was going to have to pay a penalty. After breaking down, I walked all my gear home. There is one main four lane road to cross on the way home and I was in pain/strain mode when I got there. Rather than wait for a big opening, I just began to lumber across the road and a couple of cars had to stop for me. The passengers of two separate cars stuck their heads out the window and yelled, "What is that thing?" I just yelled, "A hang glider, I just live up the hill," and kept walking

I decided that my penalty should continue, so I dropped my gear off at home and jumped on my bike to go and retrieve my car. As I hit the mouth of the canyon, Bruce was high and heading out to the cemetery LZ. The ride up the hill takes me an hour and toward the top I was whipped. Once in the car though, everything was rosy again, and I soon forgot the pain. Just as I pulled away from the parking lot, two fighter jets came blazing out of the canyon 500ft. below launch. It would have been really interesting had we still been in the air. Airtime: :15. Flights: 1

Flying September 1, 2006

I'm very lucky to live where I live...Greg Billow and Bruce Hibbard were having lunch near the Point and called me @ 1:30pm to get a weather report. Inversion, light west winds, bit hazy, few cu's to the south. They had plenty of time before the Point might turn on, so they drove down to Orem and I met them @ 2:15. We hung out in the LZ for 15 minutes vacillating about whether to go up the mountain or not. Valley wind was supposed to come in north which would make launching more difficult.

The day didn't look very good, but I was still optimistic and Bruce jumped into action when I said it might be OK. When we got to the top, wind was coming in from the SW. We hurriedly set up and I was ready to launch just before 4pm. The trees on the mountainside have begun a rapid metamorphosis into their fall colors. The hillsides are going to be spectacular within two weeks. Wind was coming in from the north, but there were still cycles coming in west or SW. After waiting for a bit, the wind straightened up briefly and I launched. I had to go way down the ridge to the north before getting up in a light thermal. I spent the next hour less than 1200ft. over launch.

Conditions were light, but buoyant and generally very pleasant. During the hour, Greg launched and didn't have too much luck. He worked hard, but eventually ended up in the bailout LZ. Had a good landing in calm conditions down in that hell hole. Bruce got up and made for the cemetery LZ not wanting to risk having to land in the bailout. He caught another couple of thermals and had a good flight. I continued south toward rock canyon running along all the rocky cliff faces.

I was pretty low as I headed south, but I was hoping the exposed cliffs of Rock Canyon would be breathing out late afternoon heat. I was prepared to land out, but just as I was hoping, the cliffs were working and slowly made my way up the canyon walls. Up close, the cliffsides are stunning, and I kept flying back and forth over the cliff edges staring down at the view. I was thinking that there is no other form of aviation that allows this intimate view of the mountains. It's rare that you can fly right over the face of the mountain and it's giving off enough lift to keep you up, but not let you get too far away.

I continued south and found another nice thermal just over the next peak that finally took me to 10,000ft. Used that altitude to slide back on the face of Cascade mountain and fly along it's cliffsides. Once at the north end of Cascade, I decided to head out toward the LZ as I was slowly loosing altitude. I didn't find any substantial lift on the way out, and I was late for a wedding, so I landed in light NW winds. No nausea, wonderful fall air, and a beautiful day. Airtime: 1:37. Flights: 1.