Mid Sept Heat Wave / 111

[JimmyZ]

Wow! Nice flying guys.... Haven't been able to get much airtime lately. Miss Pine badly.... Keep the write ups coming!!

[Randall]

Amazing flight, and a great write-up, Tom. The annotated HD pix are really helpful too.

I think if I ever go OTB from the Topas I will take a more conservative route directly to Thorn Point (like Chris Paul did), starting from closer to Chiefs. I studied a topo hiking map of the area at length and it looks like if you can clear Thorn there's a drivable road (Grade Valley) within an easy glide of the top, at Thorn Meadows campground.

And if you come up short of Thorn, you should be able to either glide back to Rose Valley (depending on altitude and winds) or at least the nearby Piedra Blanca Trail or Sespe River Trail, which are both well established (and the latter should have water if there's been any recent rains). Both lead to retrievable Rose Valley, and don't seem like excessively long hikes.

My first priority is always survivability!

The trick of course is getting a day where you have enough altitude from the front range, which doesn't seem to happen very often.

Randall

PS Have you considered getting one of these? http://www.rei.com/item/857610/delorme- ... mmunicator They allow two-way text messaging from anywhere with access to the sky, and are supposed to be much more reliable than the SPOT. Cost $300, but that might seem cheap if you're sitting in the middle of something called Devil's Heart ;)

PPS The only alternative hike-outs from the Sespe Wilderness on my Harrison map are the Johnston Ridge Trail that runs from the Sespe River (directly north of Topatopa Peak) northwest to Mutau Flat, about 9 miles and 2400 vertical feet -- and the Bucksnort/Alder Creek Trail that heads south-east to Dough Flat where it meets Goodenough Rd (about 10.5 miles from where Johnston Trail Ridge hits Sespe River) and then to Fillmore.

If you take the Truax route, the latter two seem much shorter than heading back west to Rose Valley via the Sespe River Trail

[BobA]

Wow!!!

[Dizzy]

Yeah, flights across mountain ranges even short one much more memorable and exciting then long one along the ranges. Great story Tom!

[gracecab]

As a new P2 pilot, what are the first flights you older guys would suggest from sb and vta county launches? Reading these logs really gives me a vision of how to prepare, and what to frey and not about. So fun...thats what I get out of the readings...

[sd]

As a new P2 pilot, what are the first flights you older guys would suggest from sb and vta county launches?

Gracecab. I'd recommend Chiefs Peak and of course the Santa Barbara launches including the Skyport, EJ's, and the Alternator. As a P2 pilot I strongly recommend flying with more experienced pilots who can offer guidance. You can also accelerate your progression by riding along in the front seat on a few cross country tandem flights. The tandem flights don't help you learn the mechanical control stuff, but they do show how we connect the dots. If your feeling brave, let me know and I'll put you on the call list. I generally prefer to fly tandem because it is more social, but I think pilots may be hesitant to fly with me because I can't guarantee you will be home for dinner. My contact info is at http://truax.org

[sd]

I think if I ever go OTB from the Topas I will take a more conservative route directly to Thorn Point... it looks like if you can clear Thorn there's a drivable road (Grade Valley)...
PS Have you considered getting a delorme-inreach-se-2-way-satellite-communicator ?
PPS The only alternative hike-outs from the Sespe Wilderness...

Randall, Thanks for the valuable info on the Sespe Trails. After reading your post I started researching the exit options because I know I'll be tempted to venture back to Devils Heart again. Upon closer examination, it looks even more daunting than it does from the air, so I'll continue with my research. I like your tip about the Delorme inReach Satellite Communicator. A bit pricy when you add in the ongoing subscription cost, but worth the expense the first time I might need it. I guess I need to upgrade my trail knowledge and emergency locator technology before I venture back to Devils Heart again.

I also agree that Thorne Point is a more conservative route. It is more forgiving than you realize. I've been there maybe a hundred times over the past 30 years. You can come in pretty low, about 55 hundred, and still get up or out. You can land down at Lions Camp on the South side for no hiking when the road is open, and the hike up to Rose Valley isn't too bad even when the road is closed. I've also landed in Grade Valley many times. You can often thermal up from low over Grade Valley. but the probability of finding a flat land thermal from low over the valley is only about 50 percent. The dirt road would be a long hike out to pavement, about 6 miles to the Lockwood Valley Road, so it's best to have chase, but there is occasional traffic so if you need to hike you might luck into a ride.

Thorne Point is sort of like getting to 2nd base, from either Pine or Ojai. You are safe on base and you can score on a base hit (good thermal) from there. I'll try to find time to post more detail. It's pretty scenic. I spooked a mountain lion once when scratching in close to the rocks (Thorn Point is very rocky, kind of like Cathedral Peak in Santa Barbara).

I'd recommend getting at least a thousand over Thorne before reaching back for Grade valley

[sd]

My write-up of the day can be found here: http://paraglide.net/log/amigo/john_scott/2014_09-14

John, Do you ever turn left or does your camera only work when turning right ?

[Southside]

My write-up of the day can be found here: http://paraglide.net/log/amigo/john_scott/2014_09-14

John, Do you ever turn left or does your camera only work when turning right ?

Yeah, I'm a righty. Funny, I think that I actually climb better turning left, but I have more control turning right. With more control I have an easier time centering up turning right so more often than not I begin thermaling in that direction. Having said that, when possible I always setup my landings turning left.

I have to disagree with you regarding Grade Valley. It's my go to destination from Pine. And by Grade I'm including the surrounding foothills. I'd put the success rate of finding a thermal there way higher than 50%. I seem to recall that when you, Tony and I went OTB into the desert from Ojai in our HGs way back when, we all met up above Grade before making our way over to Frazier.

[Nitrous]

Sespe exit options. About 10 years ago I spent a weekend at the base of Mc Donald Peak investigating Indian cave paintings. It was a beautiful place to camp, lots of cool water and shade. Landing out there would be a good excuse for taking a day off of work and taking my time getting home as long as I had enough power bars. Camp is at 3K. The walk out of Alder Creek is about a thousand feet of graded trail, and then, all down hill to the tail head. The road to the trail head is closed now because of hunting season and sometimes for road maintenance. Mc Donald trail forks off of Alder creek trail, and trail may be in poor condition. Do not follow stream bed, trail crosses small ridge, good LZ, and is much faster. LZ and short cut can be ID from Tom's KMZ file.
You can almost drive to the top of Mc Donald peak.
If you can't get up at before or at Devil's heart, you might want to try a down wind glide east to Alder creek trail or the northern most ridge that intersect it.
Just thoughts from the inexperienced.

[Nitrous]

Mc Donald Peak LZ. A local Hikers, that has walked Mc Donald cabin trail, said that the south bound trail transition, from stream to side of hill, needs to be marked. It is very easy to miss trail and end up at alder creek camp site. There is lots of poison oak in the creeks. We need a pilot to mark trail, and evaluate LZ .