Spain’s White Villages (Sept 25 - Oct 7)

After visiting various flying places in the Alps over the last few years we decided to try something new and check out Algodonales in Spain. Algodonales is one of the scenic Andalucian ‘white villages’ (called so because of the white houses) but much off the beaten touristy path. With its setting in a hills of the Sierra de Lijar and architecture Algodonales reminded us much of Valle de Bravo except for the lack of buzzing activity at all times and many groves of olive trees (the noise and the diesel stink of Valle was not missed at all). Although the town square restaurants are busy with diners late into the night (great food, btw… I recommend Schweinebäckchen = Carrilada), the rest of the town was asleep at night.

Turns out Algodonales was a great choice for flying. Peter bagged a +100 km out-and return and couple of nice triangles even with his not-so-aerodynamic hiking harness (we left the pods at home to fit the camping and via-ferrata gear which we didn’t use because the flying was so good). The main site has 3 launches for different wind directions (NW, SE and more challenging N). Although the launches are reasonably high (600 m AGL) the rest of the flying is a mix of flat-land and mountain flying as elevation differences in the surrounding terrain are smaller. In addition to good cross country flights scenic evening soaring flights were to be had. On one occasion we watched the sun set from the air, landing just in time to pack up and enjoy a nice cold ‘Lande’-beer before it got dark. The many big and friendly vultures make perfect wind techs. They are noticeably larger than our bald eagles and like to thermal close to our wings but apparently there has only been one collision in 20 or so years.

Several companies cater to PG pilots (accommodation, drive to launch and retrieve from XC flights, pick-up from nearby airports). We went with ‘Ganterfly’; very good and friendly service, excellent flying advice and generally a lot of fun with dad Gerhard and his two sons Carlos and Manuel. As Algodonales is pretty quiet compared to other flying sites in Europe or Valle de Bravo it may take some research and prior arrangement for independent flyers to get rides to launch (at least at the time of our visit).

There are several other flying sites nearby including beach flying on the Atlantic coast at Matalascanas and Conil de la Frontera. We flew Vejer, a ridge-soaring/thermal site just in front of a white wind mill and picturesque white town which is perched on a hill. Unfortunately we arrived to a full day of rain in Matalascanas and, when it didn’t stop raining at noon the next day, we left. People flew in the evening and on the next day a pilot on an M6 flew 100 km (two out and returns) on the amazing looking sand dunes.

Non-flying tid-bits of the trip: my suitcase didn’t arrive in Madrid (ironically it was my carry-on but I gave it up voluntarily for extra check-in)… but Carlos took pity and gave me a free T shirt! Temperatures were higher than I expected, often reaching 30oC. But at 2500 meter it was cold enough for double jackets, thick gloves and gaiters.

Gibraltar was worth a visit. Amazing caves with cathedral-high caverns draped with stalactites and stalagmites. Cheeky monkeys all over the place, running through the car, hopping over my lap and taking a seat on Pete’s shoulder. Driving through narrow streets of Cordoba was memorable. Pete was worried about getting stuck in the labyrinth and I set out on foot to find our hotel. But getting back to Pete and the car was a challenge, since my cell phone turned off navigation as I had already reached the destination (on foot). But success! Back in the car we had to put on ‘big ears’ (fold in the mirrors) and pedestrians had to step into door-ways to let us pass.

We didn’t have much luck with sightseeing in Granada and Sevilla: we were warned that visiting the Alhambra in Granada may require booking tickets ahead and yes, it did. When we visited Sevilla it was Monday, the day when some museums are closed or have limited hours and we didn’t get in the Cathedral. The line-up at the Alcazar was too long for our liking. But our visit of the Mezquita cathedral in Cordoba was a success. An Algo co-pilot (and also the hostess of our tiny hotel just across from the cathedral) suggested an early morning visit. Relatively few people visit the mosque/cathedral that early in the morning and as added bonus there was no fee. A friend warned us that one can easily end up paying more for traffic tickets than for the car rental. Pete tried hard but the limits are not very well posted – hope there won’t be a reminder in the mail.

Alpine Week - Last Week August

Compared to last year's Chamonix visit for two weeks, six days to explore the Austrian Alps didn’t feel quite adequate (and a day and a half of rain didn’t help either). But we had some nice flights and found lots of other things to explore.

We didn’t haul our wings to Europe in vain. On our way down south Pete and I flew for the first time in Germany, from Brauneck launch south of Munich. My favorite site was Bischling south of Salzburg, where I had a sweet flight crossing a couple of times from launch to the limestone towers on the other valley side. It was neat to fly so close to the jagged cliffs. Emberger Alm at Greifenburg in Austria's Kärnten region didn’t quite live up to my expectations. While Pete and Alex had a good XC flight on our first day, I sank out after crossing to the next ridge.

Unfortunately the weather turned bad and we had just one day of flying there before the rain arrived. We spent the next several wet days hiking (Obertilliach), via-ferrata-ing (very cool next to waterfalls in the tight canyon of the Pirkacher Klamm), exploring lakes, visiting Roman excavations (Aguntum Lienz), the Blue Sky home base in Sillian (hosts of our Dolomiti tour two years ago), garnet mines in Villach and, when the downpour started in earnest, several Konditoreien (Alex’ favorite rain time activity). Other interesting sights (Auerhuehner) and signs (Schwammerln sammeln verboten!)

On our last day in Europe we got in the air again at the Jenner near Berchtesgaden, above the super scenic Königssee with Watzmann Mountain towering behind. Family stories go that my grandmother visited here as a young woman and always fondly remembered the stunning mountain scenery. When I first heard about this there was little chance for me to ever see these sights. Leave alone fly over it with a fabric wing. But time changes ... almost everything.

Big Island Hawaii, Dec 28 - Jan 5

Hawaii rocks! After our first visit 2009 I wasn’t sure that it could get any better. And I would have been completely happy with a simple repetition of all the adventures from last year. But wait, there was more fun to be had!

We went back snorkeling at City of Refuge (Honaunau Bay) and Captain Cook (Kealakekua Bay), and also explored a new spot, Kahaluu Beach. The latter is right at the tourist strip Kailua/Kona, and accordingly crowded. Turned out this wasn’t all that bad since most people stayed close to the beach, so one could get to un-crowded waters easily. The fish were used to humans and didn’t dart away when you took a closer look. I also got to watch a turtle feeding for a long time and had it almost swim into me when it came up for air.

With our friends we celebrated New Year on Polulu Beach, a hike-in camping site. Although we joked about hitting the sleeping bags after Westcoast New Year, we all stayed up until Hawaiian New Year arrived – at one of the last places on Earth (2 hours from the date line) and got up early in the morning for a nice New Years swim. We also camped at Hookena another nice beach, but this was very popular over the holidays. If you are into exploring history, check out the Manago - cheap and Spartan old-style Japanese accommodation and yummy food.

One of the highlights was snorkeling with manta rays. Last year we went on a guided manta night dive but didn’t see any mantas. This time we had more luck. We had heard that mantas show up at the Sheraton attracted by the lights. After it got dark we paddled out with a sit-on-top kayak and soon we saw two big black shadows under us. We put on the snorkeling gear and watched two mantas calmly gliding in and out of the beams of our dive lights. Later a third even bigger one joined. At times they would come straight at me and I could see the gills from the inside in their huge open mouths. These mouths were large enough to fit around my head and shoulders. I had to tell myself that mantas are gentle plankton eaters and just trust the creatures – what a feeling! At the last moment, the manta would change course and dive under, often only inches away (tuck in that Christmas belly!) and occasionally brushing me with its wingtip. We watched this spectacle for an hour, until we got too cold to stay any longer.

Here is what the mantas look like with professional lighting (video of trip with Jack's Dive Locker).

Here is my not-so pro footage.

The other highlight was watching flowing lava. Since last year, fresh lava flows have covered a few kilometers of the road we drove then to see lava pour into the ocean (from a distance). Now the lava was flowing right in front of us over the road, encasing and scorching some traffic signs, and we even scooped some of the red hot stuff up with a stick to let it cool. This is what it looks like when our earth grows!

Other cool spots we explored were the Volcano National Park (well worth a full day or two visiting with nice hiking, lava tubes and a steaming and glowing crater at night), Waipio Valley, Laupahoehoe Point and Akaka Falls.

As last year, we had brought our wings along and got a more satisfying flight (almost an hour), but vog (volcanic fog) prevented us from getting very high. Not sure it was necessary to bring the wings along with so many other cool things to do on Hawaii, but it was sure nice to crank some turns in a thermal!

Pictures here (will add some to blog asap).

Dolomiti Moments

Two magic moments of the Dolomites trip: The last flight from Pordoi Pass when the rest of the gang had already flown out to land but Pete and I stayed and played some more in the smooth ridge lift. Cloud level was just above us and the rising air was condensing at our altitude. Wisps of cloud streamed by as we were flying in and out of them.

The last day of our trip did not look promising for flying. Low clouds were hanging just above Pordoi Pass. For lack of better things to do (and since our pass was still good for one more day - compared to BC lift prices are an amazing deal: 35 euros for 3 days), we took the gondola up to Sass Pordoi into the coulds and fog. Magically, we popped out into blue sky and bright sunshine about 200 meters below the top station. What a sight! Like islands from the ocean, Dolomiti Kofels and Spitzen peaked out of the thick layer of clouds. Marmnolada, Langkofel, Rosgarten and in the distance even see the summits of the Ortler Alps and the Grossglockner.

Dolomiti, Italy - Oct 4 - 9

October 4 to 9 we flew in the Dolomite Mountains (Italian Alps). We went with Blue Sky Flugschule from Sillian, Austria. IMO money well spent, since lodging, food (lots of it, including delicious 5 course Tyrolean dinners), shuttles and site briefings were all taken care of.

In summer the Dolomites are a bit too full on but this time of year the flying is still good and the weather usually better than elsewhere in the Alps. The Dolomites are renowned for the dramatic limestone mountains, spires and walls. There are paved roads up to 2200m and lots of ski lifts, some going to over 3000m. The valley bottoms are around 1400m with lots of large fields available to land in. We flew from several launches, including Col Rodella and Belvedere in the Fassa Valley, with the impressive backdrop of the Sella Group, Marmolada and Langkofel.

The weather only let us fly four of the six days but we still managed to do 10 flights. I had 7 hours airtime, Pete had 11 hrs. He spent lots of time flying around the Langkofel with its dramatic 400m high vertical walls and spires. Unfortunately the cloud base was right around the top of the cliffs which made it hard to go any further (Pete's best flight). Interesting note - during our first day at Col Rodella there were 2 reserve tosses and during the second day 3 paraglider crashes, 2 of them lead to severe injuries requiring heli rescues (one rotored in and the other did a 360 that intersected the cliff). Although the air wasn’t particularly rough where we flew, care must be taken not to blunder into rotor from strong valley winds or convergence points of valleys (this can be a problem at Col Rodella launch – see picture of a dusty having its way with 4 wings on the SE launch).

We had hoped to get to fly over the Marmolada (one of the turn point in the X-Alps). It turned out that Max Fanderl (of X-alp fame) and 4 other pilots from Calgary had gone with Blue Sky the previous week. Max had had to climb the Marmolada on foot during the X-alps but managed to fly over this time.

There were lots of pilots flying here. Most of the time the lift was good enough to stay up but not good enough to get away easily. This made for some very busy air space complicated by the fact that a few pilots seemed to have forgotten the air rules. When it got to be too much we headed to some alternate launches to escape the crowds. One in particular stood out – Belvedere, right across from the Marmolada. The launch was a grassy knoll that rolled off into a steep cliff. A frontal would likely have been fatal. Quite focusing!

This was our first flying trip in Europe. It was interesting to see that the majority of pilots were flying DHV1-2 even with 10+ years of experience. The most popular gliders were the Swing Mistral, the Nova Mentor and the Sky Atis.

Pictures here (will add some to blog soon)

Hawaii Big Island, December 12 - 19

In December we visited friends who had moved to the Big Island. What a treat to escape the wet and cold Vancouver for a few days! We kept ourselves busy with something different every day and there was a lot more to - we could have easily spent another week. Here is what we did:



Snorkeling/diving: definitely my favored activity. Cool corals, countless colorful fish, clear water. In many places the reefs are close to the surface and unless you are Pete and want to see how deep you can dive, you can just float and watch. Big sea turtles gliding by. Moray eels poking their heads out of holes. Went to Richardson and Kukio (?) on the Hilo side. This is the wet (east) side of the Big Island. Fresh water from creeks mixes with the salty ocean water in bands of limited visibility. Once past (or below) these bands the water was clear and warm. We saw quite a few sea turtles. I almost didn’t notice one of these fellows on collision course while I was scanning the bottom for interesting sea live. Quite the surprise when I looked up and saw the turtle just a couple of meters in front of me. On the Kona side we explored Captain Cook (Kealakekua Bay) and the Place of Refuge. Amazing. We also went on a guided manta ray night dive near Kona. The dive was spectacular as well, but the rays didn’t show. An excellent excuse to come back next year.




Hiking, high altitude hiking, scrambling: A few hikes, including one that left us rather breathless on top of Mauna Kea (4200 meter). Even the little car had some problems getting up that high (the road goes almost to the top). Another hike lead us close to the active volcano, pu’u oo and involved some interesting scrambling over hollow lava (aa and pahoehoe).



Caving: we explored the long Kaumana lava tubes near Hilo

Other activities included riding mountain bikes (great that our friends have such a good selection of gear!) to Green Sands Beach at the very south tip of the island, body surfing, swimming, kite-flying, sailing at Hilo Bay, and paddling. We even managed the make use of our wings at Captain Cook. Local pilots were very helpful to get us in the air. Unfortunately a combination of smoke from a local wild fire and ‘vog’ (volcanic smog) prevented the formation of good thermals and we had to content ourselves with a couple of sled rides (short flights without altitude gain).

What else? It was great to spent the days with our friends and have them as tour-guides and to stay at their place. Nice to soak up some sun and heat before returning to the cold Canadian winter. Excellent views of stars at night (street lights are dimmed to reduce light pollution for the observatories on Maua Kea). Delicious food (for example at the traditional Manago Hotel in Captain Cook). A pre-Christmas trip to some place warm needs to be permanently added to our yearly schedule!

Prague: A fill of European culture, March 11-14

Prague is located only a 3 hour trains ride from Leipzig, so we frequently visited the city when I lived in Germany. But after the German reunification I had been back only once and was disappointed about the huge tourist crowds and Disney World looks. This time I visited out of season. Crowds amassed only in front of the town hall astronomical clock to watch the dance of the apostles and at the old Jewish cemetery. The narrow streets away from main attractions were almost empty. And best of all was a late evening trip to the Hradschin, the old Prague castle. I could hardly believe that I had the gothic cathedral, the court yards and narrow alleyways all to myself and circled St. Vitus cathedral (construction commenced in the 14th century) a couple of times, gazing in awe at the tall gothic towers and flying buttresses. The gargoyles high above grinned just like in olden times.

Huasteca - Mexico Map

Huasteca Map in Google Maps


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Go to "View Larger Map" and from there to "View in Google Earth" (if you have it installed) for more detail.

Huasteca, Mexico - Paddling in Waterfall Disneyland, December 1 - 6

Your truly on the Micos (D. Elliot photo)
If you are looking for care-free waterfalls without scrambling slimy cliffs for portages or difficult approach and departure moves – Huasteca is the ticket. Hardcore BC boaters may find the water too warm, the weather too nice and the runs without carnage a bit boring.

The playland is in NE Mexico, near to Ciudad de Valles. Its easy: fly into Tampico, get picked up by the resort staff, drive to the put-in, get in the kayaks provided by Leland and Andrea from Brushy Mountain/River Gypsies, do your run, drop a few falls, stop at the bar at the take-out, celebrate with a cerveza (or a paloma, margarita, etc). Oh yeah, don’t eat too much at the bar – the multi-course dinner at the Huasteca Secreta Resort is coming soon.

The runs are pool-drop to the extreme. Travertine deposits form ledges and falls between clear turquoise calm pools. We did the Ojo Frio with tons of ledges and boofs and a couple of bigger drops (10-15 ft), the classic Micos with seven falls from 10 to 20 ft (most an easy walk-up for more runs) and El Salto with Leland’s all time favored, La Luminosa.

We liked Huasteca paddling so much last year, we had to do it again - this time with a bit more water.

(Unfortunately the trip wasn’t quite so relaxing for one paddler when his kayak decided to disappear behind a waterfall for a couple of days…)

Paddlespots in Google Maps


That's how its done!


Canadian's eh~!



Typical ledges on the Ojo Frio

More Ojo Frio (D. Elliot photo)

Ojo Frio, too



Dave dropping the first of the Micos falls


Group below the big one on the Micos (D. Elliot photo)

Pete - La Luminosa

Kansas Dave - El Salto


Tony - El Trampolin (P. Spear photo)


Michelle - El Trampolin (P. Spear photo)

More Scenic Views


El Tamul Falls


Natural swimming pool on top of the falls - don't swimm out too far. 100 meter drop just beyond the grass in the back, just on top of the falls in the previous picture (P. Spear photo)


Man-made swimming pool at Huasteca Secreta resort (D. Elliot photo)


Shuttle


Yoga with Andria


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Huasteca Secreta Resort at El Meco


Andria, Leland, Scott, Tony, Michelle, Dave, Pete, Claudia, Kansas Dave (D. Elliot photo)

Mexico, Huasteca, San Luis Potosi – December 16 to 23

Micos Put-in

Looking for sunshine in the wet and cold winter months? Want to paddle some warm water and run fun waterfalls? Check out some Mexican culture far away from tourists? Enjoy great hospitality and authentic Mexican food? Don’t want to worry about shuttling logistics or about convincing an airline attendant to check in your boat as skis? Make your way to the Huasteca region in San Luis Potosi and let Leland and Andria of Brushy Mountain Publishing and the Huasteca Secreta (HS) staff take care of the details! This was our first all-arranged paddling trip and it has set rather high standards and expectations for future ones.



Huasteca Secreta at Salto El Meco


Our Room with a View


USV - The Ultimate Shuttle Vehicle

To my great disappointment I was not able to paddle due to a shoulder injury, but the culture tour Juan and Jimena from HS arranged especially for me made up for it. Lucky Pete got to eat the cake and keep it too… He paddled all the rivers and joined me for artsy explorations.

Day 1 - Ojo Frio
I didn’t paddle, but according to Pete this is a very fun run with tons (about one hundred as Pete said) of ledges, small falls and boofs. It’s in the middle of sugar cane fields and very small Mexican villages. The Ojo Frois is actually a tributary of the Rio Gallinas (see Tamul Falls, day 4).






Day 2 - Micos Section of Rio Valles
200+ ft/mile run consisting of the 7 super fun waterfalls. Beautiful drops over travertine rock terraces. Waterfalls as paddler-friendly as they can get: simple approaches and big and calm landing pools. Best of all, there was some action for me, too! The falls can be jumped and the pools swum. Lucky coincidence: just as our group put in, a local family jumped of the first falls, among them, two girls aged 10 or 12. I found the practical demonstration much more convincing than Juani’s and Leland’s assurance that this is a common local activity. Juani displays great paddling skills – this is his third river run ever. Or is it a sign how friendly the falls are? At the takeout, every paddlers dream: the bar is set up, dinner served right at the take-out and the HS staff loads up all the boats!


Falls #1: Leland showing how its done and Claudia taking a good look


Doing it without a kayak


Andria running #2


Juani sliding #3


Pete on #4


Matt running the tallest #5


Group below #6



Day 3 - Culture Tour
Pete and I are off on a culture tour with Jimena and Jorge, our driver. First stop were the newly excavated ruins of Tamtoc. No big pyramids like the ones in the Yucatan. But a number of nice sculptures, the largest calendar stone (depicting a ritual sacrifice that took place every 53 years) and a statue of the chief – foot to waist – in the buff.

The calendar stone

After driving another hour or so, we end up on a side road high in the limestone mountains. Jimena finds a little boy who leads us up through the forest to a 60 meter wide gaping hole of Sótano de las Huahuas, a 200 meter deep limestone pit cave. After the sun sets, birds (actually not swallows but swifts) start circling directly above us and make their kamikaze dive to their sleeping places deep in the cave. We sit directly under the flyway of tens of thousands of birds that rush by in waves with great noise and whooshing of their wings. The amazing spectacle lasts for about half an hour until dark. For unknown reason we left our headlamps in the car, but make good progress in the moonlight and with Jimena’s little keychain light.

Sótano de las Huahuas

We drive on to Xilitla our final destination of the day. During dinner at open windows we watch bustling night life in the town square. Here we also see a family of three Gringo tourists – the only ones we saw on this trip (except us).

Day 4 - Culture Tour continued
Before breakfast we go for a little stroll through Xilitla. It’s perched on top of a limestone ridge and makes the impression of an authentic Mexican city: narrow busy streets with merchants opening their stores, rows of colorful houses, shouting newspaper boys, laundry flapping in the wind, flowers and noisy birds.













On to the next cultural point: Las Pozas, the surrealistic architectural garden in the semi-tropical rainforest by Sir Edward James. James was a British patron of surrealistic artists and rather surrealist himself. We take an hour to wander through the enchanted forest and discover new fantastical creations around every corner.












For lunch we reunite with the others in the largest city of the area Cd. Valles. One of the river runners experienced unfortunate back problems on yesterdays El Salto run necessitating a hospital visit to check out the problem. But he rejoins us for our trip to the HS resort at Tamul falls. Here Rio Gallinas drops over hundred meters into the Santa Maria (which is called Tampaon further downstream). Everywhere one looks from the HS bungalow high on the ridge no signs of human activities, untouched forested mountains, and deep below the majestic falls. Sitting on the terrace with a Corona in hand and watching the falls darken in the disappearing sunlight we are probably the only witnesses to this spectacle.







Day 5 - Back to the Micos
More dropping and jumping of waterfalls. A funny episode: three paddlers show up with first generation playboats (RPM, Supersport). The somewhat nervous woman boater asks her trip leader how to run the falls: “Just paddle over the falls and lean back.”, he replies. After watching our group running the falls, she turns to him and said, “But they’re all leaning forward!?” The leader replies, “Hmmph, you will have to ask Leland about that”, and of he goes, penciling in old-school-style with arms and paddle high over his head. Bar and snacks at the take-out. Fantastic dinner at a terrace at the lip of the Salto des Mecos falls above the resort.


Matt, Lisa, John, Juani, Ricardo, Kemper and Karen styling Micos #4


Day 6 – El Salto section of Rio Valles
The group paddles the El Salto for the second time, Pete’s first run. He reports three more exciting drops: El Nemo, a smaller one that ends in a mandatory boof over a hole, La Luminosa, and El Salto. The most scenic drop is the Aquarium.


Andria and Leland at El Nemo


Dooley showing us how to fly a canoe


Kemper taking a look at the Aquarium

Not being able to follow the group on the river, I join Juani senior, Juani junior and Jimena checking out the (dry) falls just upstream of the put-in. We run into a wedding photo shoot and the falls begin to flow! Nice surprise. I also get some good shots of Juani and Jimena jumping of a cliff – higher than any of the Micos drops and into totally green water. The good-bye dinner takes place at the HS beach – excellent food as every evening surrounded by candles and with music all night.

A few general observations:
Food is just amazing - don’t expect to loose weight. Be prepared to be waited on hand and foot (although this may change once HS are in regular operation). Huasteca roads are bad and driving takes for ever, come with patience. If you are on your own, a basic knowledge of Spanish is necessary to travel in this area.