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 :-)
On Pioneer Day we went to Lagoon Amusement Park. Although it was a busy Utah Holiday, it wasn't too crowded, and we never had to wait more than about 20 minutes in line. It was a sunny, hot day in the 90's, but we stayed hydrated and made the most of our time. My favorite ride was the "Wicked" roller coaster:
You start by coming out of a dark tunnel being "shot" from 0-60 mph in about one second, heading straight for the sky. At over 100' up you go over the top 180 degrees and find yourself heading straight down! You then abruptly level out before the next climb, pulling nearly 5 G's!
I also liked the Colossus Fire Dragon roller coaster, which to me, is more like "flying", with its trademark back to back large, sweeping loops! We also rode the classic "ol' rickety white wooden roller coaster" AKA "The Roller Coaster" -
Everyone but Dad rode the Wild Mouse too - although about halfway through Mom wished that she hadn't! At 10 pm they had a great fireworks show over the park, during which they temporarily shut down the higher altitude rides. Our fourth time on Wicked we got in line just two people before the last ride of the day! It was almost eerie as we shot straight up toward the star-filled sky at 11 pm, and then flew through the rest of the ride over a now quiet, closed down park. By then we were totally spent, as we walked to the campground area and fell asleep just as our heads hit the pillow. It's a good thing that we were all exhausted, otherwise the trains and freeway traffic would have kept us up all night!
The next day we went to Salt Lake City for some service as a family at the Salt Lake Temple.
Due to the personal nature of this great experience, I won't go into detail about our time there here in my 'blog, but I am happy to share about it in an e-mail or in person.
I will say that I was fortunate to meet President Uchtdorf in the hallway there!
That afternoon I had the opportunity to re-take the H4 (Advanced Hang Glider Pilot Rating) exam. My first attempt was over a year ago, when I missed one too many to pass the test (Dohhhh!). This time I spent an hour or so reviewing subjects like airspace, angle of attack, VFR, IFR, airspeed, pre-flights, radios, etc. etc. with the examiner, John. Then, I passed the test, missing only 5 questions! (you are allowed to miss up to 10). Some of the questions are downright stupid, because even if you know the material, they are worded in such a way that you can still miss it! Anyway, I'm glad to have achieved that rating (it only took me 25 years!) which will allow me more free-flight opportunities at even more flying sites!
That night we stayed at the Little America Hotel - talk about memories! That is where Keri & I spent the first night of our honeymoon many (many) years ago. I won't bore you with any more Hotel details - past or present! 
The next day, after sleeping in (well, after all, it was a vacation!) we went to the Hogle Zoo!
Everyone had fun seeing their favorite goofy looking animals. It reminded me of going to the Seattle Zoo with my family when I was a boy! We also recalled when we went to the zoo as a family when the boys were much younger, and Josh thought he had been stung by a "Wild Herb!"
One of our favorite parts of our visit to the zoo was the "birds of prey" show, a 25 minute program.
After the zoo we allowed time for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory! Mmmmmm - can you say, "Mizithra?" (...And warm sourdough bread!) Now that brought back some memories as a kid, eating at the Seattle Spaghetti Factory. Keri & I also counted how many other locations we had enjoyed - including Hawaii!
That evening we went to a Salt Lake Bees professional Minor League baseball game.
It just doesn't get much better than a warm summer night at the ballpark with an exciting game and 10 lbs of kettle corn!
It came down to the bottom of the 9th inning, with the score tied 3 to 3. The Bees loaded up the bases with one out, and then sent one off of the right field wall to win the game! I also have many fond memories of going to watch the Seattle Mariners with my Dad as a boy.
Afterwards there was an awesome fireworks display over the stadium,
reminding us of the time we came to a Bees game on the Fourth of July in 2003!
as I approached the headwall to the east. Instead of drifting in the sure lift, I pointed south to try to get to the foothills east of launch and climb the mountain range that way. In hindsight it was a tactical error, but one based on increasing my glide to LZ safety cushion. As a result I was just too low against the foothills, and ended up top-landing in a nice, wide open alfalfa field. So I walked my glider down to launch from there, and relaunched again, into obviously lighter conditions, resulting in a nice late-day sled ride. Although I went home very tired from more leg-work than usual, and didn't get as high as I wanted, it was still a great-fun (and safe) day of flying with Cody, a couple of red-tails, and four turkey vultures!
Flights: 3 
I briefed Landon on the launch sequence of "walk, jog, run" and reviewed his hand positioning and how to prone out once airborne. We did not linger on launch, and at 3:40 pm we made a seamless transition from earth to sky. We were greeted by the 900 fpm jolt of the resident elevator just south of launch as we rocketed skyward. We soon discovered that the bar-ripping thermals were fragmented and difficult to work for more than one or two turns. Cody soon launched and the three of us spent the next 45 minutes scratching and arm wrestling some nasty thermals surrounded by sharp-edged sink just to stay at or below launch level. Twice Landon and I were within about 75 feet of the bailout landing zone getting ready to go upright when a bubble came through and took us back up. Finally we found a cohesive thermal by following a red-tailed hawk in some tight 360's allowing us to drift back to the upper mountain, where the thermals began to widen and mellow, allowing me to relax my grip just a bit. It was nice to allow my stomach to settle after all of the ups, downs, and 360's - although Landon did not complain at all and was right at home in the air.
Soon we topped out about 1,000' over the upper mountain, where Cody joined us in some magical airplay'n in the afternoon glass-off! The noticeably cooler air was a relief from the valley heat. We played 3-D follow the leader with Cody, lined up in some close flying formations, and then watched Cody go beyond vertical in some sweet climbovers. As the air continued to smooth out, I let Landon "drive" for a while, getting some practice with airspeed recognition and gentle turns. Here's some video footage from our flight - if you click on this YouTube link you can then click 
Airtime: 2 Hours & 10 minutes x 2!
It was a hot, high pressure day in the mid 90's, with just enough of a sw breeze to funnel the thermals right up launch in some nice cycles. We launched around 3:30 and found just enough ridge lift to allow us to "hang in there" until we could core a thermal for the ride over the upper mountains within about 15 minutes. Like any other hot, high pressure day, the thermals were strong and sharp-edged, with some pronounced sink inbetween - especially closer to the mountain. My GPS registered some basetube-grabbing "jolts" at near 1,400 fpm, which then settled in at up to 1,000 fpm - although most were between 400-600 fpm. As we climbed away from the mountain and closer to cloudbase, the lift seemed to smooth out and strengthen. 
I carried my glider across the field next to the highway, and as I yawed it around across the wind, I saw a family of kids all standing in a big front window in the house across the road, trying to figure out how I had come to land in this field! After talking with the friendly homeowner, I learned that I had landed just north of Dayton, Idaho, 
- right next to "Winward Avenue". I broke down my glider and continued talking with Cody on the radio. He had taken a different, more westerly route across the valley. I encouraged him to continue going for miles, but he decided that the XC potential wasn't that great, and opted to land near Preston, Idaho for a quicker retrieval, at about 20 miles out.
