Silver Star

[Luke]

A few of us heading out there.  

[Roger Johnsen]

I've never been out to Silver Star...and the site guide makes it seems a little sketchy to get to.  Looking forward to the report from today's flying for sure.  Trying to learn about these sites and get some time in the air!

-Roger J

[Gliderpete]

Silver Star was a bit challenging but good today. Started working around 3:30 with punchy, small, sharp thermals, didn’t really hit its stride until close to 5. Just before we landed, I found a really tasty 100-450 rpm climb which took me from 2800 ft to 4800ft without having to work hard.  Anyway, really delightful. Copious gorgeous wildflowers. Pete

Sent from my iPad

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[l.dan...@comcast.net]

Thank you for the report and thanx for getting the ball rolling on such a fun day.  I just wanted to add my own experience as well as some details as I am sure a lot of people are curious about the site.

It was a very beautiful hike up with lots wildflowers and scenic views along the way:  It definitely took my mind off of the 1200 feet of elevation that we climbed.  Lately I have become fond of taking my time setting up but on Saturday I would have been content waiting a few hours enjoying the scenery!  We began setting up after waiting about 30 minutes for more consistent wind direction and sustained thermals from the northwest.  We were experiencing valley winds (and thermals from the northeast on what is normally the lee side of the ridge on flyable days).   I was content taking my time drinking in the scenery while watching Pete and Spyder enjoy the beginning of the day’s flying phase!  I expected that thermals would not get above 5,500-6,000 feet ASL but I only topped out at around 4,400 ASL.   As Pete said the thermals were very sharp:  I hit one thermal where Pete was heading my direction with an extra 150 feet of elevation and got on an elevator that felt like I was going to crash into Pete from below.  Spyder spent a lot of his time playing around the rocks jutting up from the ridge.  I think we all spent over 40 minutes flying.

Pete and Spyder had nice landings near the road by the west parking area and I landed in the meadow that has been recently renovated for landing by Michael Coppock!  Thank you Michael for your efforts there!  My landing was more of a demonstration that I should put thorough thought into my approach landing approach especially in “wild” mountainous terrain.  I ended up doing a downwind, downslope  landing near the northeast corner of the meadow with lots of stumps & brush and a line of trees to stop me if I could not get down before reaching them.  I had to do some extended “flaps”  at about 20 feet AGL and then a full stall when I was low enough and clear of stumps.  This was because I had predetermined that the wind would be coming up slope as I was also contemplating how I would maneuver past a few clumps of trees during landing preparation, leaving me little processing time as I got low enough to feel the winds shifting significantly (or prevailing winds winning over the thermal).  I did notice my speed slowing down as I went west but I basically ignored that information after I maneuvered through the initial opening and went with my initial instincts (which were wrong).  I glided fast down slope without enough altitude to comfortably turn on the uneven, stump covered terrain so I swerved and flapped before arriving on the ground  just before I was out of room.   Overall the meadow is a nice alternative but make sure you are thinking about wind direction before you are over the landing area.

So all of that is just to reiterate that it is a beautiful hike and fly, but make sure you walk potential LZs if you are not familiar with them.  Also have a good plan and an alternative if mind if plan A fails and another if plan B fails.  I wanted to check out the new LZ which is why I went there but in reality if you wanted the safest options I would say to try and land at the highest available spot first (maybe starting with the west parking lot if you want to land by your car), then go for the next one down and know what your last option is.  You can also land up on the ridge which we launch from or on a nice big meadow (not far from where the Chinook trail meets trail #180 on the ridge):  landing higher up is significantly easier in my opinion and the only sacrifice is a downhill hike back to your car (when the wind strength is higher it may be more difficult to get down on top unless you can find a dead spot).  Another reason this place is unique would be that is the only “local site” that really is surrounded by relatively high mountains and ridges and is flown semi frequently:  Especially more recently thanx to the explorations and reporting of Pete, Mike Coppock & Mike Cook.  This makes for beautiful flying but also doesn’t allow for any convenient escape routes if the weather turns sour!

It really was a magnificent day chatting, hiking, gasping at the scenery, flying and tapping into Pete and Spyder’s knowledge base!  I hope this spurs a little interest, curiosity and healthy caution to this beautiful site!

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[Gliderpete]

Silver Star was a drive up hang gliding site in the 70’s . It’s fun to talk with Reed Gleason or Dave Raybourn about it. The two of them encouraged us to take our bag wings there early on and for the very early 90s it was the local place to fly in the summer. In about 1993, Dave explored and opened Elk Rock and Twin Bowls on the Toutle River and this area became vastly more popular. 

    Silver Star was becoming an increasingly long hike because road access was becoming increasingly difficult. First the road to the summit was closed, then an intermediary parking lot became inaccessible after winter road damage. The present lot was established around 1996. At that time trees around it were so small that landing there was quite easy. This is certainly not the case now. Roughly in 2000, many logging roads were cut on the western slopes and the northwestern approach to the meadows and trail system became available. We used that route increasingly as the trees in the Toutle area began to seriously obstruct launching there, and Silver Star is becoming more popular in general.

     Cross country experience from there is quite limited, but there was at least one flight to Yacolt, and at least one to the ridge above Hockinson. Retrieval after XC is a significant endeavor.

   Those of us who learned to fly in the early 1990s in the Portland area cut our eye teeth on Silver Star. Many of us had our first thermally flights there. Back then, we were the blind leading the blind and we all had to learn from our mistakes or the ones we watched others make. At the time, many of us discussed Silver Star as a beautiful but very unforgiving place. Once you hike up you kinda feel like you’ve earned your flight, despite the conditions , and the added remoteness. Minimal cell availability and rudimentary weather information, (I remember very distinctly when Steve Roti, Jon Goldberg, Ancil Nance and first discovered and figured out how to use the MM5) as well as very early glider technology, all made us less secure.

    But to reiterate the heart of Luke’s discussion, Silver Star remains gorgeous and wonderful, remote even though so close to Portland , and deserving of a lot of respect. 

Pete 

Sent from my iPad

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[Michael Coppock]

Great report Luke!  Sorry I was out of town! Glad it turned out ok, and would agree that the new  lower LZ [stumps and all are now hidden by flowers and grass, ] is complex on approach, especially when thermic in mid to late afternoon [but then same can be said of all the "LZ's" on Silver Star!]  But, the more landings in the lower LZ, the more it begins to make sense on approach and short final. I would  100% agree with your advice re keeping a plan A, B, C, etc. as you reassess your glide to lower LZ during flight.  The upper meadows, and upper parking are accessible for potential bail outs to be sure, but very unforgiving if you miss first approach and final, and are more susceptible to rotor, and thermals popping you off on final. The week prior, Jeff W and I had a superb flight, with Jeff wandering all over the area both east, and North, at inversion base of around 6,000' : Jeff making it look easier than it is, and then landing beautifully in the LZ...showing a master's touch on the site!  

On Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 10:31:24 AM UTC-7, Luke wrote:

[jeffrey wishnie]

I will note, as a 'recent' (9 years?) transplant to the Northeast, I am still impressed by what y'all call an LZ!

My first flight at CLO I asked someone about the LZ options to the north if there was some XC potential and was told: 

"Oh there are tons of clear cuts"

"Aren't those full of stumps"

"Oh yeah, but they aren't so high"

Mike did a great job clearing the new Silver Star LZ, and the wild flowers have done a great job of hiding the remaining stumps ;-)

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