US'22 (21./ 22.9) more rain and wind :-(

WED: Driving back from Escalante to Richfield via PoseyLake and Hell's Backbone - mostly in rain and fog; TS when approaching Richfield - and all that with the windshield wipers inop ;-)

Mike McGuiver at work :-)

PoseyLake

Hells Backbone

THUR: great weather, but still to windy for the whole days :-((  We've tried to find a spot for ground handling and maybe also some soaring - but nope..

one of Stacy's traing hills: but the wind came in too cross

In the evening Mike (at Pete's place) prepared BBQ with veggies and Riy Eye steaks.

...nobody went home hungry...

We sat there well beyond sunset...

Finally, for the next days wx fcst is showing (much) less wind - so there is hope, that we'll be able to make some flights (maybe even from Mt.Edna) before we have to leave Richfield on Sunday early afternoon.

US'22 (20.9.) - R A I N !! (> sightseeing Hole in the Rock road))

TUE: It always surprises me how 'wrong' a met fcst can be: until yesterday the fcst for today was 'blue skies / windy' and now it is RAINING! Not that the rain is not needed here, but with the millions of taxpayer's money poured into 'better forecasting' one would expect that at least the fcst for the next day(s)  should be a bit more precise ;-)

Luckily the rain stopped around noon and we could start our today's adventure: driving the 'Hole in the Rock' road: It's a dirt road, not too bad in the beginning, but continously getting worse until it becomes (at least in parts) VERY BAD. With all the stopping it has taken us about 5.5hrs to drive the 100km in...

Devil's Garden

Due to our 'late' departure, it simply has not been possible to stop at all these numerous interesting spots along the way, especially the slot canyons we had to leave out as we wanted to be at the end of the road for the sunset.

Dance Hall Rock

'Hole in the Rock'

Lake Powell (Colorado River)

The drive back to our Motel in Escalante has taken exactly 3 hours. I don't think it's possible to do these 100kms much faster in the night (and certainly if  Andy had been on the backseat)  ;-)

For more info: >> Wikipedia

US'22 (19.9.) - W I N D !! (> sightseeing Bryce Cyn NP/ Utah Scenic Byway 12)

MON: Unfortunatley the wx pattern, that produces these strong winds (high pressure to the East, low pressure off California's coast) still remains. Therfore:  again no chance of flying (Winds on Monroe gusting up to 60+mph...)

Together with Mike (who has guided me already in 2016/ 2018 and will stay with us until next Sunday), I left Sevier Valley driving South to Bryce Cyn NP. Andy, who -quite contrary to me- doesn't like driving for hours very much, remained in Richfield.

'Junction'

...the place Butch Cassidy grew up...

We drove past 'Junction' (this launch might be an option if by the end of the week the winds should turn SSE, as there is no real good take-off facing this direction in the Sevier valley, except Mt.Edna). We made brief stop at Butch Cassidy's boyhood home, before arriving at Bryce Canyon NP. This NP is truely an awesome place: even in the midday hours the colours are spectacular!

...you an immagine, how much more intense these colours will be at sunrise/ sunset...

We then contiued along Utah Scenic Byway 12 to Escalante, a drive which offered more spectacular sights.

Powell Point (Stacy has launched from up there (somewhere...) a few years ago

approaching Escalante

Mike had recommended we'd drive to Boulder (UT) for dinner: 'Hell's Backbone Grill and Farm' - a recommandation which was well worth the additional 27miles driving (one-way)! It's actually one of the best rated restaurants in Utah; you can read the story of Jen and Blake (the chef-owners) here.

It proved to be a culinary highlight of my trip - quite contrary to the 'culinary desert' in Richfield ;-)

Again the the wx fcst the next days is saying 'breezy', so I have decided to stay another night here in Escalante, especially as Mike is quite familiar with the the region.

US'22 (18.9.) - W I N D !!! (> sightseeing Cove Mtn)

As predicted, the wind was blowing hard today again, maybe even a bit harder than yesterday.

Otherwise it has been a perfect 'tourist day': blue skies, virtually no clouds, nice temeratures...

Andy and I drove up to Cove mountain in order to see the landscape we have been flying over so many times.

...the area from the air (2 days ago)

Big Lake (almost dried out)

many dead trees, killed by the beetle (Borkenkäfer)

Annabella Reservoir

As you can see, it's a very nice area, with even a few beautiful 'cabins'

Dinner in Ritchfield on a Sunday proved to be an even bigger problem than during the week: this city is a culinary 'desert' :-(  Andy and I ended up (once more!) at Lyn's supermarket buying some salad, sushi and ice cream, which we have eaten at the motel...

US'22 (17.9.) - (Cove / Uranium) -updated

Winds at 1530 - and it is NOT km/h but mph!

Already when we got to Cove this morning around 1030, the winds have been picking up - unfortunately contrary to Stacy's prediction :-((  Around 1100 the final task of the Wide Open had to be cancelled.

the Wide Open pilots packing-up...

driving to Marysvale along the Sevier River

Tyler (today's driver, replacing Aaron) then took us to Marysvale / Uranium - a site facing south, but much lower. Here we hoped to find lesser wind speeds. But especially in the valley floor the wind seemed to increase more than higher up and with 30+km/h winds we couldn't but return to our motel...

Uranium: looking towards Marysvale and Mt.Edna

Driving back we passed some old railroad cars, which I had always taken to be a kind of railroad museum, but it turned out that these waggons had been turned into cabins, which can be rented.

Tyler and Andy in front of Uranium launch

As can be seen in the pictures, the sky looked extremely promising and we think that great flying would have been possible - IF not the still increasing wind 'ruined' the day...

At 1630 we sent Tayler home, as we couldn't see the conditions to approve sufficiently for an evening flight from Cove. 

Thanks Tyler for the driving and all the interesting infos you've given us!

And thanks to Judy for 'organizing' Tyler for us!

PS: Most probably some soaring at Uranium would have been possible with this wing here ;-)  (it will be sent to me once I'm home from this trip...) 

Leeloo SM (in Bassano)

PPS: for this evening all pilots of the Wide Open have been invited to Pete's Place for dinner. As already some of the comp pilots had left Monroe, anybody else related to paragliding has also been welcome, as there has been food enough... And the burgers have been excellent!

US'22 (16.9.) - Monroe Peak

With winds less than 15kmh on Monroe Peak, we decicded that this would be our launch for today.

...obviously also the organizers of the 'Wide Open' had thought so...

Pano on launch: looking West (towards Mt.Edna)

When we got to launch, the first 'wind techs' have already been launching, therefore we also set up quickly and joined 'the fun'. The task for the 'Wide Open' was a race to goal about 130kms North of launch (with no turn points).

Monroe Peak (3410m)

turning with the gaggle

Conditions have been really nice and getting high has not been (too) difficult. Again Andy didn't like to fly amidst so many pilots. When he got enough altitude, he left  and headed for Cove (about 20' before the start of the race); he finally landed in Richfield, just short of our Motel.

Cove launch (2670m)

I arrived at Cove with the first comp pilots (but had also left early). Unfortunately I needed quite some time to get to cloudbase, so by the time I got there, almost everybody else had 'left' already ;-)

above Cove - looking N / NE

approaching '12 Minutes': Richfield on the far left/ Glenwood (UT) straight ahead

I then headed via '12 Minutes' (Stacy's training hill) towards Richfield, but landed short. While packing up my stuff, it started to rain lightly...

Later in the afternoon we made an attempt of driving up to Cove, but at the entrance of the dirt road leading to launch, we turned around as conditions didn't look to promising...

Unfortunately Aaron (our driver) had to leave us today, as he got a chance to work in Moab on a (well paid!) Kevin Costner production already starting tomorrow at 0600. Originally he should have stayed another 2 days with us. We're sorry to see him go, but we can fully understand, that such an opportunity has to be taken. Thanks a lot Aaron for the comfortable driving and all the assistance you've given us!