Late Day Chiefs

From: Chris
Activity_Date:      
Remote Name: 209.144.103.199

Comments

The gnarly winds at launch persisted until at least 3:45 when I launched and there were still clouds building over the nose. I found very little lift out front and the bit that was there wasn't worth turning in. Very small and punchy. I cruised down to the end of the spine and found a little more but it was very turbulent. I left for Stooges with 3700 and made it across with plenty of room but found minimal lift there too.

At that point I was eyeballing my landing options and decided I would be wise to get a little closer to Gridley road. There were some nice dirt roads running up to the house below Nordhoff Peak which looked good. I headed across to Nordhoff and came in low. My sink rate dropped off quite a bit 200 feet off the deck so I pushed on for a few hundred more yards. Got lower over the road and things got nasty. Turb from trees and maybe punchy heat coming off the road tossed me violently from side to side just before drilling me through the top of a Coffee Berry tree. My first tree landing!!!

I ended up upside-down on the road with my glider draped clear over the tree. It came out remarkably easy with no rips or twisted lines. Got it in the bag and hiked the 3 minutes out to Gridley on a paved driveway where John and Tom picked me up.

25 minute flight, 20 minutes getting my wing out of the tree, 3 minute hike.