a Swift at the Point of the Mountain

I happened to be at the North side of the Point of the Mountain one day this last week, and got to see a Swift pilot launch there. The photo isn't the best, but it beats nothing. The glider was relly pretty in the air. I bought a harness and reserve for the Firebird G Sport PG wing I have borrowed, so I have a complete flying machine I can carry in the truck, in case the opportunity arises to be able to fly when I am out.

Attempting to get some air time

I borrowed a Para Glider wing, and a Para Glider harness, and was hoping to get some air time today, but alas, the weather gods were not cooperating today. Linda took a couple of photos. The first indicates how cross the wind was with the hill, which is the main reason I didn't get any air time. The second, she took, because she thought it looked like a nice photo. I must admit, a Para Glider is much easier to lug around than a Hang Glider. The white portion of the glider framing my head is the nose of the wing, where the air enters the wing to pressurize it. The breeze was very light when this photo was taken, and there was enough air pressure to make the glider billow around me.

A Nice Lennie

As I was on the way home, I passed thru Albuquerque, NM and took these two photos of a classic Lennie over the Sandias. The one with the trucks in the foreground doesn't look as good as the other. Neither looked as good as the lennie looked twenty minutes before I took these shots. Might've been a good day for flying a glider, and launching from Sandia Peak.

Shiprock, or Rock with Wings

I took these photos of Shiprock, near Shiprock, NM on the way to Laredo, TX a couple of weeks ago. Shiprock is located in North Western New Mexico, about 6 miles Southwest of its namesake. In the top photo, you can see the telephone wires in the foreground. One of these years I will go back to some of the places I visited
when I have time to be able to stop and get better photos. I probably have photos of Shiprock somewhere, as I have been visiting this site for many years.

Members of the Sierra Club first climbed Shiprock in 1939, which did not sit well with the Navajo Nation, as Shiprock is a sacred site to them.

According to information I found at: http://www.lapahie.com/Shiprock_Peak.cfm and at: http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/united_states/shiprock.html the early Anglo-Americans called it Shiprock because of its resemblance to the Clipper sailing ships of the time. The Navajo Indians called it Rock With Wings. There are a couple of other smaller formations south of Shiprock itself, but there were no places for me to stop in the truck to take photos. I came back thru here going North last week, and there was one area where all three formations were visible. I was wanting to pull over to take another photo, but the truck isn't small or light enough to be able to park off the narrow shoulder for a photo opportunity.

Dodge City, Kansas

This is a photo I took in downtown Dodge City, Kansas. The day I took this photo, it was late in the day, and the visitor information center was already closed. Sometime when I am back in Dodge City, I'll add another post, with more photos, and maybe I can find out if "Boot Hill" is still there. Boot Hill was the pauper's cemetery where people were buried who had no money for a funeral, with most of the "residents" being outlaws, and the like.

North Texas Picnic Area with Shade Trees

This is a picnic area in the Panhandle of Texas, complete with shade trees. There is another picnic table to the right of the top photo, which only has an awning over the table, and no shade trees. The shade tree I am leaning against is the one to the left side of the photo with the three shade trees. You have to look closely for the third tree, which is between the two larger trees. Part of the reason for this post, is, my best friend Garry (aside from Linda, my wife) lives north of Charlotte, North Carolina, where they have entirely too many trees for my comfort. I wanted Garry to see what it looks like near where I have spent most of my life, so he might be able to understand why I think there are too many trees where he lives. Garry says the trees are good so you can have shade.

Gloss Mountain State Park

While on the way to Dodge City, Kansas to look for Dorothy and Toto, and also to pick up some FHC (for human consumption) dead cows to take to Florida, I came across this park. I had been looking at the bluffs for quite some time before I finally reached them, as visibility in the plains of Oklahoma is normally quite good. I am not sure what the rules for flying in state parks in Oklahoma is, so I'm not sure if I could legally launch from here or not, but some of the bluffs south of here would be launchable, as they are not in the state park. If I had a Paraglider rig, and had it with me, I would have done a sunset sledder from the location of the top photo, and claimed ignorance if anyone complained. The third photo is a slightly different view from where I would have launched from that day, if I had had gear with me. The wind was coming straight in where I shot this photo, but is probably not a common deal, as the wind was out of the north, north east the evening I shot these photos. I have seen several sites in northwestern Oklahoma since I shot these that might be flyable, under the right conditions. Most only have a max of 200 ft vertical, so launch timing would probably be critical to get a soaring flight. These are the only photos I have taken in the area, as most of the rest of the sites didn't have a good parking area close, and/or I was on too tight of a schedule to be able to stop.

The bottom photo is of the Hajjitruk in the roadside parking area at the park, looking south. The second photo is looking southwest from the west side of the bluff I could have launched from. I can say it is a Hajjitruk, as it has been to one of the hanggliding Meccas, namely the Wallaby Ranch, in Florida. I didn't get to fly the day I went, as it was too breezy to fly that day, but at least I got to relax that day.

If I can remember how to move the photos, I'll change the order, so it will be more logical.

Loss of a friend and the trip to Oklahoma

When I was checking the Forum at HangGlide Utah, I found out Brett Pendleton had died in a skiing accident while I was gone. I, along with everyone else who had known Brett, am saddened by the loss of him. Brett was one of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of knowing. I remember after I returned from Iraq, and was at one of the Utah HangGliding and ParaGliding Association club meetings, Brett told me he was glad to see me back from Iraq, and he was glad I had made it back from Iraq safely. The way he said it, made me feel like he really meant it, and wasn't just saying it out of courtesy. I think Brett had the knack of making everyone he touched feel like they were special.

I took a couple of photos of the Hajjimobile with all of the Joad family's belongings in and on it after I arrived in Altus, Ok to start the new job. I also took one photo on my trip up Interstate 5, which was in new territory for me. I had never been over this section of road before. There were some other places I would like to have shot some pics, but either the lighting was very bad, or I wasn't allowed to stop in the truck. The Columbia River Gorge was pretty, and from what I could tell in the dark, the area between Pendleton, OR and LaGrande OR on the east side of Cabbage pass was pretty with the frost on the trees.

On Hold

Friday January 12, 2007. Western Oklahoma and the panhandle of Texas are getting hammered with an ice storm, and will continue to do so for the next couple of days. I still had some honey-dos left to take care of, and Linda talked me into staying until early next week. The projects probably would've been allowed to slide, were it not for the ice storm. If the Hajjimobile was in better shape, I might've gone on anyway, but I don't think it would make the trip if I pushed it hard, and it needs to last another year or two. It has started snowing again this afternoon, and we are supposed to get another couple or more inches of snow. We may go XC skiing or snowshoeing tomorrow.

It was too cold for us "woosses" to go out snowshoeing or xc skiing. We drove to the place we were going to play, sat in the car, and opened the doors a couple of times, and decided it was waaay to cold for us. I'm getting to the point I really dislike winter.

Leaving Utah

The Hajjimobile and Northwing T2 glider

It has started snowing, and there is about 2 inches on the ground already. I finished the EagleFeather glider bag last nite, and have my glider on the Hajjimobile ready to head to Oklahoma. I still need to do some "honeydos" and put bike mounts on the top rack of the Hajjimobile, as I am taking both my solo bikes and the tandem (bicycle) as well as my NorthWing T2 glider with me to Oklahoma.

In case you are wondering about how I came up with the name of Hajjimobile for my car, it is because a Hajji is: "One who has made the Pilgrimage to Mecca", and the Hajjimobile has made the pilgrimage to one of HangGliding's Mecca's, namely, The Point of the Mountain, Utah. If I offend anyone with my car's name, I have two words for you: lighten up.

I'll park the tandem at Linda's sister's house, and take the solo bikes and my hang gliding harness and related paraphenalia with me in the truck. I hope to get back to riding at least every other day, and hopefully will be able to get some flight time occasionally in Florida while I am on the road, and in Oklahoma when the truck goes thru the shop for regular service. This is a photo I took this morning before I put the bike mounts and bike rack on.