Spruce Knob to the Rocks and Back

by Tony Smolder

Although I am no longer a member of the Mountaineers my good friend JR kindly sends me a copy of the newsletter from time to time. An article by Mike Balk in the September 1998 issue brought back some long stored memories of a great flight I had from Spruce Knob back in 1991.

The date was September 8, 1991 and the forecast was for light winds and sunny skies so Susan and I loaded the Axis on the 4-Runner and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to my favorite site, Spruce Knob. As we assembled on launch we watched with anticipation as cumulus formed high overhead and cycles blew through at regular intervals.

Launching at approximately 2:00 PM I sunk down to 200' below launch before hooking into a nice 5 knot thermal that took me to 7000' MSL (3200' over launch). There was no appreciable drift during the climb, which was perfect for a flight up the valley to the north. JR had came into the thermal below me and was still climbing as I departed with full VG to the next probable thermal source at the north end of the Spruce ridgeline. Several thermals were worked on the trip up to Seneca Rocks with the a maximum altitude of 7900' MSL obtained before crossing over to the turnpoint. As I soared over the rocks JR came in way underneath and made several passes along the rock face before heading out to land. I was able to get a couple photos of him cruising along the rocks but he was just a speck with my 2000' altitude advantage. I was tempted to fly further to the north but it had been a long sought after goal of mine to do an out and return to the Rocks and back so I turned back south.

During the time spent over the rocks my altitude had been gradually diminishing and in dire need of a thermal I crossed the gap to the south and cruised over the top of the hill searching for an elevator ride. Just before I had to bail out to the valley I snagged a nice one at 200' over the top and climbed out to 6800' MSL. Cruising south again I flew directly over the North Mtn landing field, stopping to thermal at fairly regular intervals. By staying over 5000' MSL I was able to fly over the center of Germany Valley all the way to Route 33. Using the weakening late afternoon thermals was able to get up to a final glide altitude that allowed me to cross over to Harman Rocks and then make the final 4 miles to the Spruce Knob LZ without any more turns. I can still remember that peaceful glide into the setting sun and arriving over the LZ with about 1000' to spare.

Although the flight from Spruce to Seneca rocks and back was not that great a distance it was very satisfying and rates as one of my most memorable hang gliding flights. Today I continue to get the greatest satisfaction from setting a goal and flying it with triangles and Out & Returns as my primary XC goals these days. While my wings of dacron have metamorphasized into wings of glass the challenges of flying a silent soaring machine across the country remain.