84 Miles!

In a hang glider? You betcha! - Cody called me at about 10 am on Friday to tell me that Bruce and Greg were going to meet us at Short Divide, along with Dorothy the Wonder-Hang-Driveress! The soaring forecast was not too impressive, but it was based on the early morning sounding and the lid on the lift could bust wide open by the hot afternoon. We arrived on launch to a hot, 95+ degree mostly clear sky, with a stiff 20 mph wind coming into launch. We noticed a line of lenticulars forming, and knew that it could blow out soon. By the time we set up there were some cumies poppin' and the wind had settled into 20-24 mph. With the heat of the day we knew it could be some rowdy air, but we wanted to get off and up soon enough to allow enough daylight for a potential 100+ miler.

So I punched off at 14:09 and started working some ragged, sharp-edged thermals, each one surrounded by strong sink just waiting to tip me "over the falls". I spent 15-20 minutes arm wrestling the lift close to the ridge, and finally stair-stepped into one that I could follow back to bench up. Once over the upper mountain I could relax my control bar death grip in the larger areas of lift tracking right into the mountain, and allow my stomach to settle down. I watched Cody launch and soon find himself scratching for all he was worth below launch level. From my perspective it looked like he was almost on the ground, and it turns out he was only about 50' over the bailout LZ when he found a shred of lift that he somehow managed to ride high enough to bench up too. What a save! After that the wind picked up on launch, but Bruce and Greg were able to safely launch also. While setting up Greg was feeling a bit sick and overheated and soon after launching he found himself in some serious spin-cycle rodeo-air. This convinced him to call it a day and he came in for a bouncy but safe landing in the bailout LZ. Bruce battled through the raspy air down low, and his patience soon paid off as he joined us over the mountain in the building lift. At first we were bumping up against a 9,100' ceiling. Then in a short period of time the valley below let 6-7 dust devils loose all at once, and the lid came off allowing us to climb out. Cody found a thermal which took him up to over 14,000' which he followed over the back toward the NE.

I found one that took me to 13,628' over Clarkston. By now I was approaching 2 hours into the flight, due to the amount of time spent over the mountain. I flew straight through some zero sink, and soon found some smooth 600 fpm lift, that built to a steady 1,200 fpm. I watched my altimeter as I quickly climbed through 14 K, 15, 16, and topped out at 17,230' MSL at 16:33 - a personal high for me! By now my fingers were numb with my lightweight gloves, and my mouth couldn't keep up with my words! The near freezing temps were a stark contrast to the stifling valley heat over two vertical miles below.

As I drifted north over Twin Lakes, Bruce radioed that he had safely landed just north of Preston,

about 30 miles out from launch. Great flight, Bruce! *http://www.hibbyblog.blogspot.com/ After picking up Greg, Dorothy quickly found Bruce, and soon the three of them made a formidable crew of hang-driver-ette, navigator, and radio-guy, chasing Cody and I as we drifted further into Idaho. Cody took an east - northeasterly route, eventually leading him to the mountains just southeast of Soda Springs. Due to his position in relation to the mountain, his only options were to land or fly east over the mountains until he reached the Star Valley. I told him that there were some Forest Service roads in case he didn't make Afton, and at over 13,000' he decided to go for it. Unfortunately he found sink over the forests, and couldn't get over the last range, so he made a safe landing near a campground on the Diamond Valley Road. After topping out, I pointed north in zero sink, pausing to circle in occasional 100-200 fpm lift. I arrived over Swan Lake, my previous longest flight of 28 miles, at about 11,000'.

I was too low to comfortably cross a 17 mile expanse of dense forest and unlandable mountains to the northeast, and the route to the northwest appeared to be too cross-wind to be productive. Fortunately I hooked a big one over Swan Lake and climbed to 15,600' which allowed for a comfortable crossing into the Grace valley, where I found another climb to 12,100' -

allowing me to continue past the 50 mile mark at Grace where I let out a resounding "Yeeee-Haaaw" and then pushed on toward Soda Springs! The whole flight seemed surreal, and almost magical. I felt disconnected from the patchwork earth, far below, laid out in relief, and at home in the sky.

I found sink over Alexander Reservoir, and was down to 9,800' over Soda,

so I flew over a large, dark gravel tailings plant, and found what would be the last big thermal of the day, which took me to 14,500' just west of Conda. I then began a long, flat final 16:1 glide in the buoyant evening air which would take me nearly 24 miles, with a sink rate of only 160 fpm! Finding occasional lift and occasional sink as I flew past Blackfoot Reservoir at over 11,000 feet, I talked to Bruce, Greg and Dorothy as I spotted them on the highway giving chase over a mile below. I felt a bit guilty being the only one still in the air, but everyone encouraged me to "stay high" and "keep goin' for it" as long as the lift and daylight lasted! I noticed a NW breeze on the large reservoir, but at my altitude I still had a stiff SW tailwind, with a groundspeed of 60 mph! I came over the north point of the mountain range before Wayan (pronounced "Way-anne")

and looked down the long straight road with fields all around it that would make a fine landing zone. I radioed my estimated location, just beyond Wayan, checked for a wind direction, and identified powerlines and fences to avoid as I went upright earlier than usual, making sure that my legs were awake and ready. I came in with a respectable no-wind landing to an audience of 5 cows, who didn't seem to mind. One minute later the chase crew pulled up and joined in my shouts of exhausted joy.

I unhooked and checked my GPS, discovering that I had made 84.0 miles! I had been in the air 5 hours and 17 minutes! My overall average groundspeed of 16 mph was loathsome - but I didn't care! Without a VG or a stellar glide, my whole strategy was just to drift in the lift as long as I could and not worry so much about the landforms below me. Basically I never left any lift as long as it was still working, and before I knew it the miles were ticking away below me. In the end, I just ran out of time, so I will have to speed up a bit in the future if I hope to fly farther.

We quickly broke down, loaded up, tracked down Cody and his gear, and then stopped in Soda on the way home for some late night post-flight food. Dorothy had to listen to everyone's nonstop chatter and tales of big air and in-flight decision-making, but she was a great driver and a good sport - despite the late hour that we finally made it home. Greg was a great sport too throughout the afternoon & evening, even though he wasn't feeling very well at all. Thanks for the great time, guys - let's do it again soon!

Airtime: 5 hours 17 minutes! Distance: 84.0 miles! *(Sorry about the long, wordy posting - I figured it was forgivable considering the milestone flight :-)