Yow! What an opening day at Pine. With Chris Grantham and John Kloer taking the East coast contingent up to Chief Peak, it left the rest of us to tackle opening day for paragliders at Pine Mountain. Chip was able to break away from parental duties with his sick kids, Fast Eddie rearranged his doctor visit and Robb Milley, Andy Palmer and I rode in Chip's rig up to launch. The Blipmaps were predicting 14,000 foot tops and it was all we could do to keep Chip's clothes on in the pick-up as we drove up to launch. He was that excited. As Marty says, the safe part is flying and Chip barely stayed in his lane 50% of the time on our way up Pine Mountain Road, while Eddie endured the many bumps and potholes on his newly fractured tibia/fibula. But we were all getting stoked as we saw new cumis popping up over the main spine and farther back toward Lockwood Valley.
We arrived at the south side launch and the cycles were blowing in perfect at 2:30 PM. It took me awhile to layer up for the predicted 30 degree temps (and colder wind chill) expected at higher altitudes. I got off at 2:40 PM. I settled in and coasted down to the Bonzai tree. There I saw the greatest harbinger of good times: the bonzai tree is sprouting green right out of the center of its damaged, brown top! The bonzai tree is coming back! Of course, with this good omen, I immediately caught a decent thermal and took it up to 9,500 feet. After briefly boating around, I caught another thermal. It was the smoothest lift of my entire career. I sailed up to 13,000 feet, barely aware that I was even moving, while ascending at 1,300 ft per minute. Sweetest lift ever! Rob joined me and we enjoyed the brisk air and the altitudes for about a half hour before setting out for Ojai. It's been awhile since I've been that high. It seemed strange to see Chip's wing barely visible at launch as I topped out in the thermal. I could see all the way around the familiar landscape from Mt. Pinos to Frazier to Lake Casitas and the ocean. Giant cumis were over the Boy's Camp and Mount Guillermo, but we'll save those for tomorrow. Cloudbase was 14K and there seemed to be little wind.
Robb soon took off for Ojai. I hedged my bet and took a line toward White Ledge. We both had 40 mph groundspeeds. Ojai was easy and I thought I'd make a play for Bates. I had 10,500 feet at Dry Lakes Ridge and White Ledge looked easy. But I was worried about getting stuck between White Ledge and Noon Peak in a west wind. So I turned toward Matilija Canyon and came in over the dam at 9,500 feet. Robb and I toured the Ojai Valley at 8K down to 3K, making a big loop south and west. That's only the second time I've arrived in Ojai with such altitude - the last time being on a tandem. We had to listen to Chip describe every bush and tree he flew over as he nervously made his way southbound, asking for Andy's help every thirty seconds. "Will I make it from this ridge or that bush or this tree?" Then Tom Pipkin called me on my cell phone. He told me to land at his house and he'd have cold beer. Enough said. I turned from over the high school and headed south. I called Bob Hurlbett to gloat about my flight. Several minutes later, I noticed I was now penetrating at about 8 mph and headed down into an orange grove. I peeled off to land at a ranch and walk the half mile that I could have glided over - had I been paying attention. Andy and Robb landed at the high school while Chip set up for his adventure on the back side of Nordhoff Ridge, failing to clear the top by only a few yards.
We sat at Tom and Debbie's house playing with Lily and having a few beers just thirty minutes later. Then we cruised down to a sushi bar at the bottom of the hill they live on. While we did sake and talked about manly things, we began to worry about Chip. Finally, Eddie called and dragged Chip in twenty minutes later. Chip was sweaty and scratched and bleeding everywhere below the knees - like he had wrestled with a feral cat over some rat carcass in the chaparral and really pissed the guy off. We gently reminded him that it's all a part of the learning curve - steeper for some than for others. He took it good-naturedly. Then I took to the open road, much to Tom Pipkin's chagrin.
Experience is the best teacher. Pine Mountain had all its magic working on this Spring day.