Time for me to fly...

...A little REO Speedwagon bouncing around in my head gives the motivation I need to "hang in there" when I'm scratching close to the ridge trying to stay up...
I haven't flown since August 4th when Landon and I had the nail-biter! So I went out to the Short Divide yesterday for some airtime. The soaring forecast was not very spectacular, but there was a decent southwesterly flow. On launch conditions were looking promising - blowing straight in at 16-18 mph, about 85 degrees, mostly clear skies with miles of visibility. I finished my set-up, pre-flight, and hang check.

The set up area is nice and protected by a row of junipers, but the walk down to launch is a little tricky without a wing-man - especially if the wind is blowing more than 10 or 12. You have to walk sideways down 20 or 30 feet of the dirt road to avoid some uphill sagebrush, which puts your right wing in the airflow first. Once you get positioned at the top of the slot, any south or southwest wind usually comes straight in, allowing for a smooth, healthy launch.

The southwest facing launch is at about 5,950' MSL, and the bail-out LZ is about 800' down in the valley below. By itself, Short Divide is not very impressive, and makes for a quick sled ride - although it is an easy turnaround drive to the top, or about a 25 minute hike.

The BIG rewards come when you manage to climb up over the mountains behind and upwind of launch! I launched at 3:05 PM into a nice cycle which took me about 100' over launch, but soon I was 100' below launch level, lookin' for lift!

With the right amount of wind, there is a small ridge extending southeast from launch which you can ridge soar and just "hang-out" while the thermals are funnelled into a corner canyon below and track up toward launch. On marginal days, the trick is to work the smaller, often disorganized thermals to get above launch, then fly back out toward the valley and find another one to "stair-step" your way up. Once you get 200-300' above launch, the thermals become large enough to circle in and then "bench up" by following the drift of the thermal back to the face of Clarkston Peak summit ridge. Once against the upper mountain there is almost always abundant lift allowing you to quickly climb above the peak. (One time Cody made it back and found nothing but sink - but that was a rare exception.)

On this day it took me about 20 minutes of scratching along the lower ridge before I found the thermal ride to the top! Once over Clarkston Peak I crossed the small valley to the face of Gunsight Peak - about 8,100'. Soon I topped out at 8,900', relaxed and just enjoyed the view.

On today's flight there were no co-pilots (canine or human!), and I had no plans to go cross-country. I didn't bring any distraction of a vario, camera, or radio - my purpose today was just to FLY for the sake of flight, rejuvination, and re-creation!

From my vantage point, about 4,000' above the valley, I could see north into Idaho and south to Brigham and beyond. I could also see the little town of Portage where Clover was born (AKA "Cloverton"). I noticed that some of the maples and scrub oak tucked in the narrow mountain valleys were actually starting to change colors with a hint of red, orange, and yellow! Fall is just around the corner as the calendar seems to race toward the daylight savings time change, when the available daylight hours and flying days become fewer.

Although I have flown hundreds of hours and flights, I still feel a sense of awe, respect, appreciation, and gratitude for the magical beauty and incredible rewards of unpowered flight. After flying next to a resident hawk for a few minutes, I let out a "YEEEEEE-HAAAW!" and did a steep wingover in celebration. I explored the local mountains and valleys until the shadows on the foothills began to lengthen, then I pointed downwind, flew over the back, and set up for a nice, stand-up landing in the Clarkston LZ at 4:45 PM.

While reviewing my log book I realized that I have had at least one flight of at least one hour each of the last 12 calendar months - and this flight would extend that streak to 13! (The mild past winter left the road to launch open.)

Airtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes!