mon…more windy crap
nuff said

sun… take cover
the wind is even worse this morn and the good ship skylark rolls on the swell on the way to the casino…ah well I have had a good run so far in cali with the flying so I decide to read write and potter around the rv and relax in the pool and spa…the waiting game begins…I think the mountains may outlast me but I hope the wind does not…I talk to vic…he is in manmoth about 200 miles south of me and he says its blowing a gale there too …ahh well cest la vie…guess I just have to wait…

sat…severe weather
I weigh anchor first thing and head for rose mountain and stumble across the launch at slide bowl on my way down the mountain…hurray…its deserted windy and over the back…booo…I find a spot under mountain to park with a view off take off and resolve to spend some quiet time waiting out the weather with a book…the wind picks up as forecast so I go into nearby carson city for a look around the place made famous by so many westerns…it is full of casinos amongst other things all of which have very reasonably priced rv parks with full services including cable tv and as a guest you are then entitled to use all the facilities such as spa pool hotub etc…hmmm…do some research and talk to a local microlight pilot…he says its gonna be bad tomorra too… I sulk call him names and slam the phone down…no but I am a little disappointed so look for the nicest casino in town and decide to move in the morning…chill…zzz

Fri …severe weather warning
I leave Yosemite early next morn after a hearty breky and push further north arriving atlake tahoe in the late afternoon…I find an rv park to stay and question the owners about the local flying…they tell me Friday is the day the local pilots all fly at a spot called kings beach on the north shore of lake tahoe so I head off to interrogate whoever I can find…it’s a little ridge soaring site about 400ft top to bottom…as its late in the day I decide not to bother going to take off and talk to some guys already packing on the beach…they tell me of a larger thermic site a couple of hours away on rose mountain…a local also emails me info on sites near my next stop on the coast san Francisco…he also tells me of a gust front on the way due to arrive in the morning and last the weekend…curses…I thank him and decide to head out in the morning…eat…zzz

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…

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

Tues26…rocky
I get up early and eat…load lill suzy with wing boots water clothes and dr superflys now patented wind speed and direction assessment guage/fish catcher…I begin to calculate the takeoff equasion…wind speed over direction times height of terrain minus hours since sunrise…or is that direction over wind speed…I drive to the mountain…I study hard everthing I can think off on the way and stop a few times to check the wind…I see a couple of bombout spots but they are small and you still need to get it right…i look for a place high enough up the mountain road to spread my wing…I find something…some young passers by stop to see if what my story is…the bloodthirsty fiends ask if they can watch…no pressure then…I say they can if they are as willing to help if it all goes wrong…I have chosen a quiet observation point on the roadside about 7or 800ft(250m) up…I wander around sucking my finger and holding it up…I check the w.s.d.g.f.c…everything seems fine…still no fish but I clip in anyway…the small audience is indifferent…not much wind cos of the way the road is cut where the wing is… on the third attempt I am over the side plummeting towards the rockface below...no…actually im fine and soaring up the rockface tentatively probing the morning thermals…I scream inside and fall in love again…I begin to soar up the rockface…I go up quite easily a thousand feet or so and see if I can come down again…I can so I stop feeling quite so nervous and begin to enjoy the flight and climb again…it gets rougher the higher you get and I suspect the influence of a light west wind over the top I saw on a weather report online…I fly on till about 1.00 and although nothing is really making my spider sense tingle there are big sink areas as well as lift…I decide not to push my luck any more and effect a safe landing on the roadside after an hour or so in the bumpy thermic conditions…and so ends my first owens valley flight…nothing epic but lots of fun and at least for me a cool challenge which is why i came