Ecola on New Year's Eve

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sky...@gmail.com

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Jan 1, 2021, 5:29:59 PM1/1/21
to Cascade Paragliding Club
We knew it was a super high tide, but the wind report looked friendly.  The state parks web site announced that the raod and trail were back in use after the landslide.  Gail and I went early to avoid the 12:50 high tide at 8.3 feet.  We got there about 10:00 am, and the waves already covered the entire beach.  It was very soarable. Perfect West -SW winds, maybe 15 mph.  I met Jason Laughlin there, who just moved back from Utah.  Even though there was enough beach for maybe one minute out of 5, that seemed horrible odds, especially with the tide still coming in a lot more over the next couple of hours. I went up to launch and it was drizzling.  No launch now.  We went to my dad's beach cabin to wait and had lunch, etc. 

We came back about 3:30, and there was plenty of beach.  The winds were still soarable, but as predicted, more south than west.  I went up to launch and took off.  Gail decided not to fly because it is a challenging launch and she is quite rusty these days, red hair and all :).
I soared immediately, but as I tend to do, I checked for progress by changing direction. Indeed it was more south, so I had to be careful about forward progress.  Straight south is fine here if you have a lot of beach and lots of daylight left.  I had neither.  I flew around for about half an hour, very nice conditions.  However, after awhile, I knew I would have to hike up the hill and try to get out of there in daylight. The wind was also picking up.  I landed, folded the glider and Hiked up.  I was down to a T shirt because of all the heat I generated hiking up hill.  After awhile, the middle of the forest got really dark, and it was hard to negotiate over tree stumps, fallen trees, false trail leads and darkness.  It's probably best to give yourself 40 minutes to hike out to make sure you have some light, or bring a tiny flashlight.  I had to bushwhack a bit because I couldn't find the trail, but probably only 40 feet.  It was really dark when I got out, but I was glad to have a nice flight.
John Saltveit

Dirk Larson

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Jan 1, 2021, 5:39:18 PM1/1/21
to sky...@gmail.com, Cascade Paragliding Club
Nice report! Thanks, John! 

On Jan 1, 2021, at 2:30 PM, sky...@gmail.com <sky...@gmail.com> wrote:


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