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Hangola February 26, 1999

I bolted out the door from work at 11:30 this morning with hopes of FINALLY getting a good flight in this year. The soarcast was good and the sky was clear. When I turned off of Route 11, I hailed Steve Kinsley on the radio. He gave me the bad news that the road was closed and told me to drive around back and hike up. He and Terry Spencer had already done so and were preparing to launch. When I drove up the back side, I found the road to the top open. Steve said they had just opened it. Terry launched first into light winds. He scratched for a while and sunk out. Steve launched right after Terry and immediately got up. What a surprise! Not! I quickly set up and launched about 3:15pm into light winds and was rewarded with some decent ridge lift up to several hundred over. The spine north of launch was really working. Steve was going up, up, up and I kept trying to keep him in sight. He got over 3000' over before getting cold and landing. Temps were about 50° on launch and in the 30's higher up. I worked up to 2000' over and drove up the ridge to the North in zero sink until I got almost to the reservoir. I hit some strong sink that convinced me to turn back. No activity until I got back at the spine and BOOM!, I strong thermal carried up to 1500' over in no time, at 4:45PM! Then, I hit another one that took me to 2200' over! I was having a BLAST! First thermals since October! Steve got on the radio and told me to land already, so I headed out over the valley. The view of the mountain was spectacular when I turned back towards it from out in the valley. I didn't want to land, and I was blessed with a little magic! I hung out over the LZ for a long time, gently flying through the air just like in my childhood dreams. It was a truly magical experience for me. Thanks to Terry and Steve for waiting so patiently for me in the LZ!!!
Mike Buckley
2:00
2370' over

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This page last updated February 26, 1999