Ground Hog's Day at Skyport

[faoro]

The lapse rate didn't look very good today, but it was post-frontal, so what the heck? Chip called me and I was at work without a vehicle. He drove downtown to pick me up and we stopped at my house for a change of clothes and to get my gear and then met up at Parma with a big crew - at least ten or eleven pilots. Several new faces to me, but this was only the second day all year that I've been able to fly. It was early (10 AM) and not much was shakin' on the way up. There was a visible inversion and the high, cirrus clouds - mostly to the east - promised to diminish heating. But there was also cumulus development over the R&R and the Thermal Factory. Cycles were light at launch but I got off at 10:30 and immediately got 500 over. The R&R was really working and the air was smooth. A beautiful morning to fly.

The top of the lift and cloudbase were at about 4,300 feet. What a nice feeling to be back in the wispies - my home away from home. With the 3-5 east wind, I continued over to La Cumbre Peak. The lift there was disorganized and I scratched out front 300 feet below the lookout for almost half an hour. Should have just fallen off to Cathedral Peak where there were consistent cumis, but I'm stubborn. Even when I topped the peak, I still decided to fall off to Cathedral before heading back east. It was working fine and I stayed at about 4K before turning for the Holy Hills.
They had some development over them and it was shaded on the ground. So I chose the R&R again and bumped up to the ceiling one more time.

Bypassed Skyport and used the Thermal Factory to boost up to 3,800 and fly to East Beach. It was still fairly shaded in down range. There was a 9 mph tailwind out to the beach. I had 1,500 feet when I reached the ocean, so I got a tour of the harbor and Stearn's Wharf before landing at the Chromatic Gate next to Art. We grabbed a cab back to Parma Park. Hopefully, tomorrow will be as good!