Last weekend wasn't flyable - probably just as well, my ankle appreciated the recovery time. This Saturday was flyable; another weak, high-pressure, thermic Cliffside day. Steve and I headed through together; we appreciated the spring weather, but were worried by the high level cloud and the wind seemed a little stronger than we wanted.
We found many wings on launch, but they were mostly on the ground. I took a flight in unpromising conditions and ended up down at the river in 'somewhat funky' conditions. Back on launch, Steve was getting ready to fly, but I needed to rest my ankle - the hikes up and twisting round to launch had tested it a little.
Steve stayed up and disappeared over the back. Dan and I got ready, but conditions seemed to be weakening. A half-decent cycle arrived and I took it and managed to work up over the hang-launch; for some reason Dan hadn't launched. I reached 2,400 feet and should have set off at that point (I learned later that Steve set off at around 1,800 feet); instead I lost the thermal and gradually lost altitude.
Later on I thermalled a bit with Dan and generally flew around a bit; most pilots got flushed to the LZ, I top-landed just as Robbie and Sarge arrived for a tandem flight and then went to get Steve at the Maryhill Winery.
Nice to be in the air again, especially on such a warm, pleasant day and the Winery is a nice way to round of the day.
Photos -> http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/Cliffside18April2009#
Second flight -> http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/186910
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