Chief Peak, Saturday, 7/19

[faoro]

A few old venerables (OJ, Tom Pipkin, Art and I) and a relative newbie to the front range, Kelly, took off for flying the Ojai Valley today - without a driver, since Fast Eddy was in the desert with Diablo. The conditions weren't stellar, but the wind had backed off enough to at least allow us a flight. Cycles were howling at launch and John Kloer, being the true Topa Pilot that he is, immediately offered to drive down so the rest of us could fly without attempting a top-landing in the strong conditions. I protested, but OJ took off in the Suburban like a bat out of hell as soon as the last pilot launched.

Lift was good on the main spine and we quickly got up above 5,500 feet. Art went westbound and the rest of us took some loops in the bumpy thermals to shake off some of the rust from not flying much the last couple of months. Eventually, I headed west toward the high school, heeding Art's report that he hadn't been able to get above 3.5K along Nordhoff Ridge. I left Chief with 6K, pretty decent considering the hazy conditions and meager lapse rate. Stooges was rocky, but Bruce's got me back up to 4,100 feet. However, westbound, the cool marine air was influencing the thermals; there was poor lift off toward the Pyramid. So I took the low road back to Bruce's and tried to regain the former altitude. The west was pushing through and conditions were weakening. I left with 3,800 feet and had a tailwind down to 1,500 feet. Then the strong west wind grounded me at Matilija School.

Tom Pipkin and I reminisced for an hour in the nearly empty Deer Lodge while we drained a pitcher of Hefeweizen.

Flight time: Two hours.