Mid morning,I called the usual suspects, looking for a fellow flyer. Chuck was already at the A setting up, so I went up to launch him.
It looked pretty,good a little light, I gave it a shot, short soaring flight..
In the mean time Justin read my post and headed for the Stones, here is where it really gets good.. He flew the Stones yesterday and got 40 minutes!! At a boy Justin!!

Eric

Oh boy ... I actually get to post a flight report

As Eric stated, I read his post. It was already after noon when I read the post, as I had pretty much kissed the idea of flying goodbye for the weekend. All of my aero-tow buddies from the north were saying rain. I printed out the directions from this site, loaded up my gear, and brought my friend and wife along. I didn't expect to be able to fly, as I figured I'd be getting there too late. At least my friend would be able to see other pilots fly ...

The directions were great to the LZ. We scouted the topography out, drove up a couple different roads to find the launch, called Eric a couple times. With a little help from Eric, we found the parking area. WHAT I have to hike my glider 250 feet vertical? Can hanggliders even do that? Maybe I'm a little lazy ...

We decided to hike to launch, leaving the glider. I brought my harness along to feel what the hike would be like with a little weight. I also figured that if the conditions looked good, it would be less equipment to take up the next trip.

Conditions were PERFECT ... perhaps as good as it gets ... The wind was blowing straight in around 20 MPH and consistent. It was a beautiful day. I called Eric one last time to glean as much additional info as I could (glide ratio, bail-out zones, etc). Good thing I brought my friend along ...

My wife stayed at launch, and my friend and I retrieved the glider. We set up in the wind and took advantage of the nice tie down (the only one I saw). Set up really wasn't bad considering the wind. The wind did die down a little (15 MPH) by the time I was geared up and ready to fly. By this time, it was 4:30, and there was not much of the day left for flying (man I wish I read Eric's post 2 hours earlier).

I waited for the wind to pick up a little more, and I launched unassisted from the nice, open (but slightly flat) slope. Launch was a little hairy, as I went down quick (I was expecting to start making vertical progress almost instantly) and brush was approaching. By the time the brush looked menacing, I had enough airspeed to pop up a little , and ridge soaring took over from there. The Pulse is a wonderful bird. I had to work pretty hard for my first 150 over launch, barely scratching at times. Once I made the first bit, it was a pretty easy elevator up to 970 over launch near the peak. I tried really hard to make 1000, but 970 was my cap. The entire face of the mountain parallel to launch was in the lift band.

I decided that I would soar for 30 minutes and then head for the LZ. I knew that I wouldn't have much more time than that, as it was getting late, and I had to beat the sun down. It was an easy glide to the LZ after gaining 970. I showed up over the LZ with 1000 to spare, so I played around a little bit and then set up my figure-8 approach. The wind at the LZ was pretty much dead for my landing, but I had a nice 2-step landing in the middle of the LZ right next to the road.

In summary, slightly hairy launch, nice ridge soaring conditions, 970 vertical gain, 40 minute flight, nice landing. There is no doubt that multiple hour flights would have occurred for anyone, had they shown up earlier in the day.

Thanks Eric!