Saône - a river cruise

The last 8 days, Ruth and I have spent cruising the river Saône (Burgundy/ France) in a houseboat. We had been very lucky weatherwise: mostly sunny, not too cold, fog/ haze only twice in the morning, no rain at all.
Atumn was still in full swing, slowly coming to an end, thus making for some very nice views. (>> check out more pics on Flickr.)
Already in 1991 and 1996 we cruised this river (from a different starting point a little further to the N). It is always a very relaxing experience, as the boat makes only about 12 kmh (a little less than 8 mph). Beside the river/ canal there is normally a small road/ track, where Ruth would cylce sometimes.
Of course the food is excellent (being in France...)

a birds view -the fastest birds on earth (a BBC video)

Absolutely amazing!!!



for full size or HD: click here

Winter has come with a vengeance

Am vergangenen Mittwoch (14.10.09) war ich in Arosa, resp Medergen um das dortige Ferienhaus "einzuwintern". Die Strassenverhältnisse liessen eine Fahrt (trotz 4x4) nur bis knapp über die Waldgrenze zu, dann war Schluss -zu wenig Bodenfreiheit... Es folgte ein Aufstieg von noch gut 20min. In der vorangegangen Nacht waren gut 20cm Neuschnee gefallen. Schnell war das Haus winterbereit: Wasser entleeren, Tisch versorgen und Fenster- und Fensterläden schliessen.

Am Donnerstag hoffte ich noch eine Flug vom Weisshorn zu machen: soweit fast windstill, jedoch gut 40cm Pulverschnee am Start: eingesunken bis zu den Knie.
Jedoch Superaussicht und bizarre Motive...

Some statistics

Duration of trip: 36 days; flying days: 29
Number of Flights: 36
Average Flt time: 1hr 04min, longest: 3hr 58min (just short of 100km)
Highest Alt: 17'500ft (ca 5030m)

Sites flown on this trip: 24 (whereof 13 new!):
Marshall (CA)
Honeymoon (UT)
Mollies Nipple (UT)
St.George -the 'Usual' (UT)
Cedar City (UT)
Mt.Edna (UT)
Golde Gulch (UT)
Monroe Peak (UT)
Cove (UT)
Hancock (UT)
Snowbird (UT)
Inspo (UT)
Point of the Mountain (UT)
Pajute (CA)
Mammoth Mtn (CA)
McGee (CA)
Lee Vining (CA)
Flynn's (CA)
Walts Point (CA)
Black Eagle (CA)
Bria Dog Ridge (CA)
Gunther (CA)
Torrey Pines (CA

...und wer genug der Zahlen hat, kann sich hier etwas entspannen:
(Sorry, there is no translation into English possible)

"final" flight (Marshall)

One "last" flight at Marshall (nice thermals) and now it's the end of my trip.
I'm awaiting here in the lounge at LAX the departure of my flight to LHR and ZRH.
I'd like to thank all who have contributed to this trip beeing so succesfull and such a great experience.
Thanks especially go to Stacy in Richfield (UT) and Kari in Bishop (CA): both went out of their way to show me new sites, guide me around and also organize permission to fly in "restricted" places like Snowbird or Mammoth.


Point of the Mountain (South side)

Marshall - last full day

Rapidly my trip to the US is coming to its end.
Today I was up on Marshall for a nice thermalling flight.
As nobody was in the LZ when I was there, I had driven up with my own car and was therefore "forced" to top land.
For dinner a last "prime rib" meal...

Torrey Pines

I don't know, if Leonarodo really said this, as he hasn't flown at all as far a I know.

Torrey Pines is almost as I remember: well not allmost: the paperwork has gotten even worse. Now it's about 8 pages one must initial and sign. I think 1993 it were only 5 or 6 pages...
But the air is still as smooth and laminar as ever and permits hourlong flights/ toplandings and kiting as you please.
So I stayed 2 days (MON, TUE) before heading up the coast towards LA (or "smell-A", as Kari used to say).

Transfer

Today was a travel day. I had stayed one more night in Bishop, partly also because I was expecting a(nother) nice sunset.



Then it was a 4+ hr drive to LA. At least here they are using part of nature's power to generate electricity, even though I saw very few solar panels on houses.
But if nor here where the sun shines 300+ days, then where else???



I stopped at Sylmar/ Kagel, but was discouraged from flying. So I continued to Marshall, but it was too windy here.

Pajute and wind

'Early' (0900) this morning we (Kari, Kim & Jay) drove up to Pajute. The forecast called for strong winds and we wanted to make at least one flight before it became unflyable. Everybody got off nicely; there were even a few thermals, but I didn't climb above 9000ft.


We then changed to Flynns, hoping that beeing it a much lower launch, we could still make a flight. Kim & Jay did so, I didn't as windspeeds were steadily increasing.
This proved to bee a good decision...


After landing we checked Bishop airport weather: wind 14 gusting 29kts! But everyone made it safely back to the ground...

This morning I had also called Ron Pecks in LAS about towing/ flying at Jean on Sunday: they had had an outstanding "full moon fly-in" on Friday evening: towing and skydiving. But he told me, the forecast for Sat avternoon and Sun called for 'stormy winds' and that therefore it wasn't worth driving over. But there is a chance I'll get to meet him next year, when he's coming over to Europe.

a very nice evening

Friday evening turned out to be very nice: beautiful sunset, full moon and an excellent prime rib at 'Whiskey Creek'...

Gunther (& Chuck Bluffs)

Another fine fall day here in the Valley.
I had had to fix another tire, so we were rather late in getting up the mountain: this day: Gunther.
While I was setting up, Kari was "enjoing" here ration of "rabbit food" as part of her 500kcal/ day diet.



The winds were blowing S, almost SE, and the thermals were small and sharp...

Later we tried Chuck Bluffs, but with winds 14-18mph, this was too strong for me to handle safely with my XL glider...

Mazurka Peak - Paboose Flats

Even though the day promised to be a good flying day, we (Kari & I) choose to go 'exploring'. She knew that in the 70's/ 80's of the last century Mazurka Peak was used by HG pilots as a launch, but she never had been up there. As there are some radio transmitters on top of this mountain, there is quite a good road up.

For a NW-/ N- wind direction this would be a perfect launch: big, no big rocks or bushes to catch ones lines. Probably one of the best launches in the whole valley... But we couldn't find anything for W- or SW- winds.

Our map showed a track leading to the 'Paboose Flats', which Kari had overflown a couple of times and always wanted to visit.
Among the 'bad' roads I have travelled on this trip, this sure is the worst: REAL 4WD with high clearance.



But the trip was really worth it, as we passed some amazing trees and landscape.


That the flight in the evening at Flynn's then just was a short sledder didn't mattter at all.

Bria Dog Ridge (Parawaiting -3)

Tuesday's winds have cleared away all the dust/ haze and we (Kari, Richard + Devin ("Observer") had a fine day out near Crawley Lake. It took a while until the sun had heated uo the ridge enough for the cycles to come in straight. The thermals remained weak so Richard and I had to land rather too soon...
Flynn's later: winds too strong and cross.
Sushi for dinner (> Hi Stacy!)