Wed… rocky II
Sky check…lovely…wind check…lovely…breky…lovely…load lill suzy…lovely…off to fly…I reuse my improvised launch from the previous day(whitney portal rd off the 395 in lonepine…on the roadside just before it disappears from the mountain front into the forest if you are looking)…the weather reports on line shows a light north wind right down the valley for now so things should be smoother than yesterday…although I have a fair amount of experience of simple/intermediate paragliding I am still very much on the learning curve and have virtually no experience of simply making it up with no help and advise from others…this along with the areas reputation is making me super cautious…we all know(and I have found out the hard way) this sport can be a very unforgiving mistress…as I set up on the roadside more bloodthirsty locals stop to see if they can witness my horrible bonecrunching demise…there are dollar bills being put in a jar I think…but once again I leave them disappointed and am away into the blue and loving it…suckers…the thermals today are smoother and each one takes me higher than the previous…my flying is also improving and I ride each to its bumpy limit being aggressive when the thermal is placid when it is not…as the day turns on my height gains improve and i can think my first flight over the highest point on any continent is here…the day only improves and I make it well above the highpoint and fly along and back over the spectacular peaks and needles… time is unfortunately limited and although this is the kind of day I can fly for miles I realize a retrieve except on my ones and twos for hours in the 95+degreedesert heat will kill any possibility of further progress north today (and possibly me)which I need to make to keep my schedule to new york…I decide to land next to lill suzy to make life easy on myself and save it for europe and asia where I will have unlimited time to get lost and practice my sas survival techniques(or get a cab)…I return to the hms skylark weigh anchor and make sail…I set a course 200miles north to yosemite…the landscape begins to become greener and the vegetation taller…I ascend almost the whole journey…the temperature falls into the comfortable high 70s…even some of the valley floors are over 8000ft up…I arrive at night and find a spot to crash…zzz