Wetcoast Views

Blanchard Flying - October 31

2009-11-03T22:12:00.000-08:00

There I thought flying was over for the year, getting ready for the pow season and looking longingly at first dustings of snow on the local mountains.

But no, we keep getting nice flights! Last Saturday at Blanchard was another one of these unexpected nice days (Whidbey not too far away was blown out and raining).

All of us had a couple of sled rides at first. But my last flight was awesome. Wind had picked up and provided good lift. Strong enough that I started playing with big ears, speedbar and small wingovers. Lots of fun on my big swing-set in the sky.

Finally also got the top-view camera set up and it worked like a charm. Editing the HD video was another story – very tedious. Producers of the little HD cameras seem to use their own codecs and while the quality can be amazing, using older software to edit is a pain.

Here is another video of an eagle getting up and close to a hangglider (in a friendly way). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaxFMlkqsEs

Hedley Fly-In, October 10-12

2009-10-20T11:59:00.001-07:00

Even the old timers said this was the best flying weather at Hedley ever (not sure if we should come back next year – with expectations that high). We all got plenty of flights in. Pete flew up to 2600 meter, until his fingers went all numb. Great views of the mine perched high on the cliff. Evening board games and fun with friends. Night temperatures -11 oC. Thanks for an excellent Thanksgiving weekend!

Rain - October 17/18

2009-10-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

The paddlers pray for rain! I rarely had this wish even in our paddling days (mind you we are living on the wet Westcoast). Now rain started for good with big downpours just before the weekend. And I remembered how fun it is to get out for a quick afternoon run on the Capilano at a nice full level of 5. Couple of flights off Woodside over fall colors in the Fraser Valley completed the weekend on Sunday.

Victoria Visit – October 3

2009-10-08T22:57:00.000-07:00

The valley was blown out, so for a change we had some family fun in Victoria.
Pitch and Put with water obstacle and beautiful views of Mt Baker. Riding a tiny motorbike. Making friends with mini horses (13 of them, including 4 foals). Excellent fun!

Baldy Fly-in without Baldy flight, September 26/27

2009-10-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

Paragliding is very weather-dependent and planning has to be flexible. So instead of heading to the Baldy Fly-In in South Central Washington right away, Pete and I took a detour over Whidbey Island and Tiger Mt near Seattle.

Early morning flight at Whidbey

We got up at first light to fog, but it lifted exactly at sun rise (7:10). Wind was light but got stronger after half an hour. Pete took to the air, made several passes and sank out. 30 min later the white caps and wind from Smith Island had reached Whidbey (W, 20-25 km/h, with gusts to 30). Second and third flight for Pete (playing with speedbar and big ears). For me first some high wind kiting and then a short flight. Of course by that time the wind was too weak and I was in for a hike from the beach as well. We waited for a while but winds never came up again so we moved on to Tiger Mt.

Launch at Tiger Mt near Seattle

Tiger was quite the zoo. The parking lot was packed, cars all along the road too. Local pilots told us that most belong to hikers, phhh. We decided to go for the full deal and pay $17 for the shuttle, which took almost 2 hrs, with vehicle switch and all. Next time hiking is in order (apparently under 1 hrs). Flying was nice, but unfortunately by the time we got to launch, the clouds had covered most of the sky – so it was extended sled rides. As I said, it’s quite the zoo – lots of people on launch, many students, mix of ridge soarers and thermalers, some people top landing into the crowd – looks like they have BFAR every day.

Saturday night we meet up with the Deimos contingent at Baldy. Quite a change of scenery from the green rain coast to dry inland desert. Sunday morning we drove up to Baldy – all was nice and still until the very top ridge below launch where gusts over 35 km/h welcomed us. A couple of Canadians launched (with the help of almost every pilot holding down their wings), but for the rest of us (including the locals) it was too windy.

Pete enjoying the ride up Baldy

Hiding from the wind at Baldy

Everybody moved on to Saddle Mt. Great conditions there and everybody had great flights. New for me were the interesting landing conditions in the desert. After I dropped low on the ridge, I thought I would be on the ground in a couple of minutes, but there were plenty of thermals from the desert below and I kept cruising around for another 10 or 15 minutes, keeping a watchful eye out for dust devils.

Airtime at Saddle Mt

All said and done – a nice weekend. I finally got to fly two sites I had visited a few times in poor conditions (Whidbey and Saddle) and an bonus site (Tiger) thrown in. Maybe a few more visits and we will get to fly Baldy too!

Fly, bike and hike in the Chilcotins, September 19/20

2009-09-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

This was another trip I always wanted to do – fly up to one of the lakes near Goldbridge and ride down. Fly with a plane and ride mountain bikes for a change. It felt weird flying so close to the ground without feeling wind in the face. The pilot recommended Spruce Lake over our first choice Warner Lake, as he thought it would be to windy to get into Warner. The plane, a Beaver, took off very smoothly from Tyax Lake and Resort (where I spent a couple of nights with my parents last year), went along Gun Creek, and much too fast landed on Spruce Lake. The consensus was to take the more interesting route over Windy Pass through Eldorado Basin back to Tyax Lodge. I had forgotten how much work it was to push a bike uphill, and we had to do it for two climbs for a total of about 1000 meter elevation gain. Doesn’t seem much for hiking, but pushing a bike is a different story. But the downhills were sure nice – not too challenging for someone who mt bikes only once or twice a year. The weather wasn’t as stellar as we hoped, but not too bad either. A couple of rain and snow showers. Is winter coming?

Over Tyaughton Lake looking west to Gun Lake and Carpenter Lake

At Windy Pass

Sweet single track down

The boys after scree ride

On Sunday we explored the northern part of the South Chilcotins on foot (since body parts abused the day before needed some rest). Tepee Mt looked like a nice easy objective for the day. Took Tyaughton Creek FSR - Mud Ck-Paradise Ck FSR to the trail head just below 1800 m (from Carpenter Lake 1.5 h / 36 km, easy 4WD). The trail fades in and out through the forest, but flagged. It leads to open meadows and the pass east of Tepee Mt. We opted for a route up the grassy slopes on the north side (aesthetically more pleasing than the steep scree slope from the east). Except for the last 50 meters the route is an easy hike. Tepee Mt is capped by a layer of basalt which makes the last bit to the top a scramble. It’s not technically difficult, but somewhat alarming because one has to climb over a steep jumble of broken basalt columns. Summit at 2500 meters, 3 h up, 1.5 h down at a moderate speed. Amazing views all along. Wildfires up the Yalakom are still burning. Saw first snow on Mt Currie on the way back.

Coquihalla Granite Towers - September 13

2009-09-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Another trip ticked off on my list ... and several more added.

Whenever we hiked or skied Needle Peak I thought we should go and explore the granite spires one sees in the distance between Fraser Canyon and Coquihalla Highway - the peaks behind Yak, Nak and Thor. Recently there was a new report on Clubtread about a trip up Llama-Alpaca Ridge with good info on logging roads and trail. So off we went. With the description we found the trail head and trail easily (although it was more of a ‘route’, not your weekend warrior hiking trail). Along a seriously de-activated logging road, up through steep forest, onto granite slaps up to a pleasant walk along the broad ridge between Alpaca and Llama peak. Not another human being in sight – but wait! Pete spotted a wing in the air! What a coincidence – we watched three paraglider launch from Guanaco and land close to our parked car. On the way down we sampled many delicious blueberries and picked up a couple of King Boletes. Since I found the granite slabs in a couple of places a bit too exciting, so we took a detour through very steep forest. At least something to hold on to…

Great views of the Anderson Group (Chamois, Ibex, Gemse).

What an amazing place to visit. This is another of these spots that would be a great tourist attraction, would it be anywhere in Europe. But just like Jones Lake or the Sumallo Valley few people come to enjoy the spectacular vistas.

Just saw a trip report on scrambling up Vicuna…

Vicuna

Ridgewalk

Fallcolors

Red Blueberries

Kings

Saddle Rock, September 5-7

2009-09-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

The rainy season has begun just in time for the last long weekend of summer – Labour Day. We decided to run away from the rain and spend the weekend east of the Cascades. Conditions were not promising for flying but at least it would be mostly dry. In the end, 3 days of parawaiting yielded 4 hrs of ridge soaring in rather strong winds at Saddle/Silos in central WA. While parawaiting we kept ourselves busy with climbing at Frenchmen Coulee. But it was time for only 2 climbs before we got rained off. Very windy so tents were getting blown around in the gusts.

Other weekend adventures: most amazing views of clouds, rainbows, overwhelming scent of sage brush after the rain, waking up on top of Saddle Mt when tents almost blew over, watching pelicans soar in +50 km/h winds and being buzzed by an owl interested in our lonely tent (after it finally calmed down). Despite low air time - a great weekend in the empty WA desert.

From Saddle Mt, WA

Surf and Fly, August 29/30

2009-09-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Sweet weekend!

Saturday was one of the 'you should have been here days' at Skooks. No kayakers on the ferry and nobody at the dock got me wondering if I had misread the tide table. In Egmont we met a Montana paddler looking for company on his first visit to Skooks. In the end we were 5 boaters - it was a tough job to entertain the endless stream of tourists (several thanked us for the show). Among the 'tourists' was a PG pilot friend. Small world!

Alpine start on Sunday for another hike&fly from Mt Cheam. Lots of tasty blueberries slowed us down. At launch we waited for an hour for the thermals to build and overpower the light easterly crosswind. All got off without a hitch to a nice smooth flight down to Bridal Falls LZ. Although there were no thermals for soaring like for my first flight from Cheam it was just amazing to glide high above the ridge and out over the Fraser Valley way below.

Alpine start

Landing zone is 2000 meters below - just east (below) the highway exit.

Pete fluffing his wing

Black Mt Fly-In, WA, August 15/16

2009-09-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

Black Mt is the first big ridge on the right driving east into the Fraser Valley. Must be a pretty amazing site if its on, but it wasn't to be. Saturday we did a sleddy from a lower launch just below cloudbase. It didn't clear and we gave up waiting and drove over to Blanchard. Best launch conditions ever - smooth west wind - nice, slow inflation - lift off; but it was too late and only Andrew managed to stay up. Sunday we tried Black Mt upper launch, but wind was blowing over the back. Watched some interesting launches before driving back down and on to Bridal Falls. After all the driving and waiting I had almost an hour air time - shows again how nice and dependable our 'house berg' is.

Check back for pictures soon.

BC Day in and on the Clearwater (August 1-3)

2009-08-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

Being on the water is the only way for me to doing something active in this heat. And being on the Clearwater with its nice big water drops and endless surf waves is a lot of fun too. Added bonus – the alpine flower tour at Trophy Meadows. It was a pleasant surprise that the bloom was at its peak – even after the recent heat wave.

July 29, 30: Vancouver’s Hottest Day on Record

2009-07-30T12:19:00.001-07:00

Environment Canada recorded 33.8oC at the Vancouver airport (which is next to Georgia Strait and cooler than most of the city). The last record was set in 1960, with 33.3oC. Victoria hit 35oC, Bella Coola, up the coast, 41oC. Temperatures were 38oC outside our place at 6 PM, 28oC inside but luckily only 25oC downstairs – just cool enough to sleep. The heat has been building for the last 10 days, but it will cool down somewhat over the weekend.

Update: Record broken one day later, July 30 with 34.4oC.

Pemberton - Nahatlach Weekend, July 25/26

2009-07-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

As the title says - we checked out Mackenzie Launch in Pemby and then made our way across the Duffy Lake Road to Boston Bar. Just before Lillooet we watched a wildfire starting across the valley. The recent heat has parched the landscape and all that is needed to set a hillside on flames is a spark or a lightening strike. While driving on into a black wall of a thunderstorm between Lillooet und Lytton the wisdom of driving into the Nahatlach Valley in such dry conditions seemed rather questionable. But the storm brought with it a good quantity of rain – literally ‘extinguishing’ our concerns.

BFAR: July 11 and 12

2009-07-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Lots of pilots came out for the Bridal Falls Air Races put on by the Westcoast Soaring Club. Over 40 gliders were in the air on Saturday. Best flight for me was the first one from Mt Cheam on Saturday morning. The flight around the ridge and out over the Fraser Valley was well worth the 1:45 h hike up the back side. Friends came out on Sunday and enjoyed their tandem flight (including spiral) immensely.

High traffic volume at Bridal Launch.

Flying from Mt Cheam. Mt Baker in the background.

Okanagan Flying: July 3 – 5

2009-07-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Over the long weekend we checked out some Okanagan flying spots around Vernon and Lumby: Coopers, Baldy (King Eddy) and Vernon Mountain. Pete went for some interesting x-country flights, while I checked out the local thermals and a clearing in the woods.

Solstice Magic – June 27/28

2009-06-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

OK – not quite solstice, but Solstice week ... close enough.

Let’s start at the end of the day: I watched the sun set from the air on a sweet evening flight at Bridal Falls. It had almost turned katabatic, but a forward launch got me in some unexpected lift. I bobbed around for half an hour at 100 meter above launch (850 meters above the Fraser Valley), watching the sun and the moon and some spectators watching me until the sun was close to the horizon and it got cold.

Only a few hours earlier we had drifted in our kayaks through the clear green pools of the Similkameen River with its canyons rarely visited by humans. There was a deer and some raven to keep us company. And to keep things interesting there were some rapid to run and some holes to punch (but none seemed really big after the Grand Canyon).

What a great summer day! What a delight to visit such magic places!

Similkameen Canyon

Some whitewater

Lots of clear green water

Grand Canyon - June 3 to 18

2009-06-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

So far it's a photo blog. Will write more when it starts raining seriously.

This is were all Grand Canyon trips start. Lees Ferry.

Mike done with rigging.
Somewhere in the Roaring Twenties
Kath on the oars
Side canyon exploration

Nankoweap

Below Nankoweap
Random Campsite
Redwall Cavern
Sunset at another campsite
Another camp - Cardenas, just above Unkar
Sacret Datura

Below Marble Canyon
Elves Chasm
Sockdolager
Camp in the Inner Granite Gorge
Ducky in action (The Terminator)

Floating
Crossing of Havasupai Creek
Cooling down in Havasupai Creek
Mixing of the waters (Havasupai/Colorado confluence)
Deer Creek Falls
Lava boulder
Yup - it was hot
Pete cooling down

Running Lava
It actually rained for one day!
Exploring one more slot canyon.

Afterwork Ski - May 28

2009-05-29T20:38:00.000-07:00

We just had to do this: get the skis out one more time this year. May 28, +20oC, and of course in shorts. Did two runs on Mt Seymour and had a lot of fun, although conditions were not quite up to winter pow standards.

Snowmelt has definitely started

Even the black gunk came off the skis easily with Ben’s secret citronella solution.

May 23/24, Wild Water and Wild Air

2009-05-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

This weekends program: flying at Bridal in rather bumpy air and a fast ride down the Coquihalla, at medium/high levels much of the bumps smoothened out on the river.

Bridal Falls May 09 from Claudia Schwab on Vimeo.

Wenatchee is up - May 16 - 18

2009-05-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

Snow melt is very late this year (just as the snow was in November), but the Wenatchee is finally up!

As every year we meet the usual paddling friends. The group of WA paddlers, one long-lost friend who moved to the Kootenays years ago, and even some boaters from Vancouver who's kids and house and other business has kept them from regular river runs last year.

So together we surf some waves , run some rapids, enjoy the sun and a cool bevi at the take-out, and exchange stories from the last year. What a great place!

We also indulge in our latest pasttime - paragliding at Chelan Butte.

Big Weekend at Bridal, May 9/10

2009-05-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

Big air, big clouds, exciting flying. I opted for shorter flights and quantity - 4 flights each day. Pete did some nice cross-country to Butterfly and Elk and has it all on Google Earth.

Gaggleling up

Development starting over Woodside

Deimos Gang at Launch

Bridal LZ in yellow

SIV - April 25/26

2009-05-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

Paragliding SIV at Harrison Lake. Saturday was blown out, Sunday we got some flights in, including a very exciting one for Solaris - a full stall gone wrong. No injury to the pilot, but some lines melted. Quite the excitement for everybody.

Big Ears

Waiting for the winds to calm

Not looking good

Calm the next morning

Here is a 'good' Full Stall:

Full stall gone awry:

Easter in Oregon – April 10-12

2009-04-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

Pete in Joe Bob's on the Clackamas

The usual suspects (and some new ones) made their way to Oregon to dust off kayaks and paddles. The rivers: the Clackamas (a bit higher than two years ago, much of the smaller features and Bob’s were washed out but Joe Bob’s worked), the Molalla, a new run in narrow basalt canyons with some fun drops (should take a lower put-in next time) and the White Salmon at relaxing low flow (2.75, but unfortunately a big fat log in Husum Falls).

Its spring in OR. Maple trees bloom in yellow and the first Balsam Roots show. Bagby Hotsprings still snowed in, but of course excellent! Star gazing at our campsite on the Klickitat and turkeys gobbling at night.

Spring is here

Molalla - Three bears run

Basalt pillar canyons

Maytag on the White Salmon

Pow and Airtime – April 4/5

2009-04-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

On Friday the Coquihalla webcam showed lots of snow in the trees, so we drove up to Needle Peak Saturday morning to see for ourselves. And yes, there was fluffy powder, all the way down to the road. Did several runs in the trees to a total of 1100 m in knee-deep pow – maybe last pow for the season? By 1 PM the sun was high enough to hit the north facing slopes on top making the snow sticky, so we packed it in to meet up with the Deimos crew at Mt Woodside. Pete had a stellar flight thermaling up to his personal record height around 1800 m and despite a strong East breeze made it past Harvest Market LZ together with Paddy. I didn’t have so much luck with the thermals and ended up with two shorter flights. Maybe a good thing – Pete reported rather exciting conditions up high.

Yak snowed in again

Pete happy with the conditions

I like it too!

Riverside LZ below Mount Woodside

After Work Fun

2009-04-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

Finally a couple of nice and sunny days. Is spring here?
The days are now long enough for some fun after work, so we drive up to Mt Seymour and enjoy the views and the snow (still a few meters of it).

Watching a paraglider with the city in the background.

Successful evening out.