From: Jim Macklow
Activity_Date: 5/3/2002
Remote Name: 63.197.58.133
For those of you who haven't seen the north launch at pine, here's a link to a photo I took:
http://macklow.com/pix/pine/north_launch.jpg
My landing spot is indicated, about .6 miles from launch. Keep in mind that the slope in front of launch is much much shallower than appears (to me anyway) in the photo. I landed only 550' below launch for a whopping 3.3/1 glide. It's a 7.8/1 glide to the Lockwood valley road, the first vehicle-accessible retrieval point.
A shot of my "lz" here:
http://macklow.com/pix/pine/north_landing.jpg
The hike out was pretty easy except the final 200 yards or so which were a fight through scrub oak and (nearly) impenetrable manzanita. When faced with a wall of foliage, my gps greatly helped me choose a path to lead me to the road from launch.
To paraphrase the the Camel book: do not attempt this launch site unless your are into heavy thermaling wizardry (or pain).
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