Thurs…special forces training
I wake eat and go into” town”(such as it is…1 road)to make flying enquiries at the local tourist office as I still have no signal or wifi access here…the lady tells me there is world famous soaring at my next stop in lake tahoe… hurray…but nothing round here…booo…I drive into yosemite national park to explore the guerilla possibilities…paragliding is certainly possible here but not for the average pilot…not even for the above average pilot but for the commited(read certifiable)vol bivouac athlete who dosent mind minimum 5 mile walkups the launch and top landing possibilities are endless…for here in the high sierra mountains the gods have created not their usual display of dragons teeth and fangs but an endless smooth granite ocean light grey in colour with swells and tidal waves in excess of 3000ft(1000m)…the low lands are covered in pine forests… lakes teeming with fish and even the occasional landing field…gigantic male pattern bald cranium like highpoints protrude from their forested hairlines and produce thermals that can be clearly traced to their white fluffy destinations above…this is a great wilderness almost totally inaccessible(1 road right through and out) except by foot trails and this is I am sure what keeps the pilots away… it is a truly spectacular playground…there are also of course the bears and wolfs to think about when camping …the conditions on the day I was there were near perfect with light winds and a clear sky peppered with white fluffys…as my sas days are behind though me I decide not to opt for the twenty mile speed march and relax with a beer next to a lake and drown some worms to amuse the fish…quiet evening/night…move on in the morning…zzz…but no bloody flying…