Owens Valley and Tioga Pass

After leaving Santa Barbara, we headed inland a bit and drove north via the Owens Valley. There were lots of Joshua trees and interesting scenery en route. 

Just outside of Bishop, Andrew was hoping to fly at a site called Flynn's. The launch is accessible by road but only with 4-wheel drive and very high clearance. The hike to the top took him about an hour. It doesn't look all that far or steep in the first photo below but the next two show the scale a bit better. Can you spot where he is in each photo? 

Looking across to the other side of the Owens Valley

The wind didn't seem too bad at the base, or even on the hike up, but as Andrew crested the summit it was gusting up to 40 km/hr which is way too strong for paragliding! 

The next day we headed back towards the coast through Yosemite Park via Tioga Pass. Each day we tried to stop and get out of the vehicle for a short hike. This one near Tenaya Lake did not disappoint! Thankfully we got back to the van just as the rain hit hard. 

A couple days later, we were just about finished driving for the day and couldn't find a good coffee shop so . . . wine tasting it was! Barra of Mendocino Winery was very nice. It's a family-owned business focused on organic farming practices. The event hall was originally designed to resemble an inverted champagne glass, hence the beautiful and unique ceiling. 

3 Days in the Owens Valley

Enroute home from the Mexico part of our trip, we wanted to get in a few more days of paragliding before having to pack our gliders away until we can get somewhere warm again in the new year. The Owens Valley seemed the obvious choice. While it's notorious for strong spring and summer thermals, it mellows out in the fall. 

Between cloud cover and smoke from the fires on the west side of the Sierras, it made for dramatic views of the sky but not dramatic flying. Most of us got at least a couple 20-30 minute flights and Andrew got one cross country flight of just over an hour.  We flew at the Paiute and Flynn sites. Thermals were not the best (small with sharp edges) but I must be getting somewhat more comfortable in the air as I didn't find them too bad and stuck with it for longer than I normally do. 

Regardless of conditions, we got some instruction from Kari Castle (multiple-time world and national champion in both hang gliding and paragliding as well as numerous other records) and we were with a fun group of people! 

David was our fearless driver. The photo doesn't do it justice but serious skill is needed to navigate
 the rocky, twisty, steep road up to (and down from) the Paiute launch. 

Checking out the conditions on launch. 

John, who we met on the SIV course a few weeks ago, was able to join us for the few days.
It was great to see him again.

Nice torpedo position on launch, Russ!

Kari and Cookie in the air.

A pilot from another group -- but I liked the photo!

Andrew in the air. Paiute LZ is lighter coloured area in bottom right of photo.

Andrew . . . and my wing tip.

I want to be like Cookie when I grow up. She's 74 years young!  :-) 

I always enjoy watching more advanced pilots. 
This tandem pilot was doing wingovers on approach to landing at Paiute. 
Note: Pilot was Dave Turner of "North of Known" fame.

Hanging out in the Flynn's LZ, waiting for the last pilot to land.

Kari has several large rocks in her yard and wanted this one
but we all decided it was just too big and heavy! 

Andrew practicing the art of kiting upside down
in order to get dirt and sand out of the wings before packing them up for the trip home. 

Beautiful evening light from Flynn's LZ.