Almost mid-air with an eagle
Although the weekend weather forecast looked rather depressing all week, in the end both Saturday and Sunday were not only fly-able, but also provided good spring conditions. We arrived early on Saturday to strong wind over the back – but had planned to work on the launch carpet anyway. After almost everything was pinned down, the thermals started coming up. Paddy and I went for two sled rides, Pete drove the second time. I enjoyed the warm spring air at the Riverside LZ and wasn’t too keen on driving up for a third sleddie, but in the end we did go up and scored a sweet 1.5h ridge soaring flight to 1000 meters. I went all the way back over the North Towers and got a good look over the ridge up Harrison Lake. Lots of traffic in the air: eagles and human flyers, including Andrei, Ryan and Amin. To finish off the nice flight I followed Pete for a little cross country to Harvest Market.
Agassiz Mt (left), Harrison Lake, Bear Mt (centre), Fraser Valley (right) and Green Hill (bottom right)
Sunday’s flying conditions were even better. Pete took off to Sasquatch before I got high enough to join him. Good thing I wasn’t ready, because he sunk out, while I ventured east along the ridge to Agassiz Mt, following some other pilots. They were more comfortable getting up and close to the clouds – which meant I was below, behind and pretty much on my own. Being still pretty new to the cross country thing I focus a lot on possible landing zones, especially when I’m flying alone (well, I wasn’t not really alone, there were plenty of other pilots in radio-reach, just nobody nearby who's “line” I could follow). Things are somewhat complicated by the prison below the ridge between Woodside and Agassiz Mt; a no-fly and no-landing zone. But just like the first time when I flew here with Pete and Andrew last year, whenever I thought about turning out and heading for a nice green field to land in, my vario started beeping reassuringly. I found a couple of nice thermals up to ridge height (and one somewhat rougher thermal which I left alone after an uneventful frontal collapse). After some scratching I got just a bit above Aggasiz Mt, but not high enough to follow the others to Bear. I flew out to Green Hill, played in some mild thermals and landed at Green Hill’s southeast end after almost 14 km xc.
