Third and Fourth Minden Flights of 2010

I paid my third visit of the 2010 soaring season to Minden, NV and flew on Saturday and Sunday, July 17-18, 2010 with SoaringNV in their Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus X.  The weather on my first two trips was less than optimal, and thus the flights were just a little more than local flights.  We did get out of the Carson Valley on both occasions, but we did not go far.

The weather was much improved on the third visit and made for two days of great cross-country flying.  I flew with Kenny Price, my instructor from Williams, CA, on Saturday and Devin Bargainnier on Sunday.

Day 1 - Saturday, July 17, 2010

Kenny and I decided that we would attempt to fly to Boundary Peak.  Boundary Peak is the northern most peak on the White Mountain Range, which, along with the Inyo Mountain Range, forms the eastern edge of the Owens Valley.  At 13,141 feet, Boundary Peak is the highest peak in the state of Nevada and is just east of the California/Nevada border.  From there, we would assess the conditions and decide whether or not to continue the flight to the south along the Whites.

We got onto the Pine Nuts in relatively short order and headed south out of the Carson Valley.  The day was strong and the sky was filled with gorgeous cumulus clouds, which marked the lift and showed us the way south.  The route we took was Mt. Siegel to Mt. Patterson to the old ghost town of Bodie, then east of Mono Lake and south to Boundary Peak.

Here we are a little more than two hours into the flight and arriving at Boundary Peak.

The town just to the right of the crop circles in the next photo is Benton, CA.  It is also known as Benton Hot Springs because of the Hot Springs it features.  Benton was once a small mining town with up to 5,000 inhabitants in its heyday (circa 1860s).  In 2000, the census population was only 196.

We could see that the conditions had already over-developed to the south along the Whites, and there was rain at White Mountain Peak about 15 miles to the south.  So we decided not to progress further south and instead began our return to Minden.

Our return path was almost the same as the path we took down.  Here we are heading north, to the east of Mono Lake.

Here we are at a "nice, clean gas station" 21 miles south of Hilton Ranch and we are climbing back up to 16,000 feet before continuing the journey home.  Those of you who have read my posts before know that I use "gas station" as a euphemism for an area of lift that we use to climb and hence, "put gas in the tank".  The addition of  the adjectives "nice" and "clean" means that I also found this as an opportune time to....ahem...."relieve myself".  Those of you with wives know what I mean.

We took a small sight seeing detour over Monitor Pass to view the East Fork of the Carson River and the small Sierra town of Markleeville before returning to Minden.

Here's our flight trace from See You.

And here it is in Google Maps.

Day one totals: Flight time - 4.3 hours, Distance covered - 308 miles

Day 2 - Sunday, July 18, 2010

Devin and I decided we would try for Mount Whitney on Sunday.  Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet.  We made it there but, unfortunately, we didn't quite get back.

We followed pretty much the same path south that Kenny and I took on Saturday.  But we got low at Mount Siegel early in the flight and had to fly close to the mountain to find lift.  Devin quizzed me, "What's the #1 rule of mountain flying?"  My mind raced through the cobwebs of my early flight instruction.  Let's see... don't fly on the lee side of the mountain, um... don't approach the mountain at 90 degrees, um....  Devin interrupted my thought process and proclaimed the answer he was seeking, "Don't hit the mountain!"  And then he continued, "And the #2 rule of mountain flying is, don't hit the mountain! And the #3 rule of mountain flying is, don't hit the f---ing mountain!"  Words of wisdom from the mouths of babes!

Here we are at Mount Patterson.  Note the video camera secured to the left wing.  I still haven't seen the video that the camera took.  You might ask how is the camera secured to the wing?  Come on, we're guys!  Duct tape of course!

We almost had to land out at the Sweetwater airstrip before Devin found a great thermal that took us back up to 15,000 feet.  Then we resumed the flight to the south to Bodie where we found a good "gas station" which gave us the height we needed to fly right over the top of Mono Lake to Glass Mountain.

From there we proceeded down the center of the Owens Valley to just north of Bishop, where we headed west to the Sierras.  The Sierras form the western edge of the Owens Valley.  Flying along the Sierras is very scenic (See my posts from last year).

Here's a beautiful lake shot.

We were still about 25 miles north of Mount Whitney when we encountered rain.  Mount Whitney is to the left of center, beyond the rain in the next shot.

More scenic shots as we continued to the south.

We finally arrived at Mount Whitney, but below it.  It is the highest peak in the center of this photo.

We continued a little further south and did some "rock polishing" in the hope of finding a "gas station" which would get us high enough to summit Mount Whitney.

I reminded Devin of the #1 rule of mountain soaring.

And the #2 rule of mountain soaring.

And whatever you do, don't forget the #3 rule of mountain soaring!

However, we did not have any luck.  We would not summit Mount Whitney this day.  From here we crossed the Owens Valley, over the town of Lone Pine, to the Inyo Mountain Range to the east.  We proceeded north under a fantastic cloud street that took us all the way to Boundary Peak at the north end of the White Mountain Range with only one stop at a "gas station".

From there we could see that we had quite the challenge ahead of us as the sky was blue all the way back to Minden.  We would not have the benefit of clouds showing us the way to get home.

We proceeded north while keeping landing options available to us.  First, Hawthorne airport at the south end of Walker Lake.  Then Hilton Ranch airstrip to the west of Mount Grant.  And finally, we went to Gimmey's Bowl where a weak thermal gave us the height we needed to almost get back.  Almost.  All we needed was one more thermal to get us over the Pine Nuts and back to Minden.  But did we find one?  No.

So we landed at Rosachi Dusters airstrip in the Smith Valley, on the east side of the Pine Nuts.  But we were not the first to land there this day.  A pilot visiting from Japan had already landed out in a Schempp-Hirth Discus B.  These photos were taken after we had already helped each other push both gliders into position for aerotow retrieves.

I called Fred at SoaringNV on my cell phone shortly before we landed and informed him of our predicament, and he arranged to have a tow plane come get us.  It arrived about 45 minutes later.

We helped launch the Japanese pilot and then waited for the tow plane to return for us.  But who would run our wing?  The wings of the Duo Discus X are wider than the runway and the terrain off the runway is rough.  Devin threatened to make me run the wing and he would send an auto retrieve for me!  I adamantly objected to this suggestion.  So we improvised.

But the first attempt failed.  The wing came off the tire and fell onto the dirt as the tow plane began to move forward.  Devin pulled the release before the wing collided with the asphalt.  So we set up for take two.  This time with the wing and tire starting on the asphalt.

Devin and the tow pilot used the tow rope to pull the tow plane back into position.

Fortunately, the wind picked up. This would help give us control authority much sooner. We coordinated with the tow pilot to rev-up the engine while standing on the brakes before releasing them so we would have a much more sudden forward acceleration from the start.  Hey, what's that gas thing to the left of the windsock for?

And this time it worked perfectly!

Here we are climbing out of the Smith Valley.  We did a 360 degree climbing pattern before heading northwest to climb over the Pine Nuts and return to Minden.

Here we are coming in to land at Minden at the same time as the tow plane.  We are landing on RWY 30 and the towplane is landing on RWY 30R (a dirt strip).

Devin blamed me for our land-out!  He claimed that our late start, because I couldn't get my "stuff" together, was the reason we landed out.  I blame the wingtip camera for the extra drag it caused!

Here's our flight trace from See You.

And here it is in Google Maps.

Day two totals (excluding retrieve): Flight time - 6.2 hours, Distance covered - 455 miles

A very special thanks to Kenny, Devin, and SoaringNV for making these incredible flights possible for me!

Third and Fourth Minden Flights of 2009

I paid my third visit of the soaring season to Minden, NV and flew on Saturday and Sunday, July 25-26, 2009 with SoaringNV on the final two days of their first annual cross country camp. They conducted the camp in a lead and follow manner. That is, one featured instructor would fly with a student in the lead plane, and up to two solo "students" would follow the lead plane. I say solo "students" because they weren't really students at all, but rather accomplished pilots in their own right.

The featured instructors I flew with were the world renowned Gavin Wills of Glide Omarama, New Zealand; and Devin Bargainnier, the young gliding phenom whom I flew with on my first Minden flight of this season (see first post below). Devin was just back from the World Gliding Championships held in Finland where he participated as a member of the U.S. Junior Team. We flew in the Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus X on both days.

Day 1 - Saturday, July 25, 2009

I was scheduled to fly with Gavin on the first day, and we would have one follower. The plan for the day was for a flight to the East since they had been going to the South on the first three days of the camp. I explained to Gavin that I had really had my hopes set on a flight to the South to Bishop. He agreed that that was the logical progression for me based on my previous cross country flights and changed the plan to go to the South again. But rather than go to Bishop, we would try to make it even farther South to Mt Whitney!

Here, we are flying low and in weak lift over two reservoirs close to the airport at the beginning of the flight.

We eventually made our way onto the the Pinenut Mountains to the East of Minden. Here, our follower is joining us as we are about to head South out of the Carson Valley. Lake Tahoe can be seen in the distance.

Here, we have progressed South to Mono Lake along the Eastern edge of the Sierras.

These two lakes are Twin Lakes and are just Northwest of Mono Lake.

The next two photos show the beautiful reflections of the clouds off of Mono Lake as we "put some gas in the tank" while awaiting our follower.

Our follower arrives at the "gas station" to fill up before we head farther South.

These are volcanic cinder cones just to the South of Mono Lake. Gavin explained to me that they are relatively young in geologic terms. An internet search reveals that the area was volcanically active as recently as 350 years ago.

These are three of the four lakes in the June Lake Loop. Grant Lake is on the right, June Lake is on the left closest to us, and Gull Lake is just beyond. The fourth lake, Silver Lake, is behind the mountain peak between Grant Lake and June Lake.

The lakes in the next two shots are to the West. On the sectional chart it says "numerous small lakes". There are literally hundreds of these lakes dotted along the Sierras.

This is looking West into Yosemite National park.

Here we are reuniting with our follower in the vicinity of Mammoth Mountain.

More "numerous small lakes".

Looking East across the Owens Valley to the White Mountain Range, which we would end up flying on during the return trip.

To borrow a line from Buzz Aldrin, "Magnificent desolation"!

This is Tulainyo Lake, just North of Mount Whitney. It is within the Eastern most boundary of Sequoia National Park. We found another "gas station" here.

Our follower arrives to fill up.

The lake is breathtaking in the reflection on the wing.

Finally! Mount Whitney. It is almost in the center of the photo. A little above and to the left of center. You can see the Smithsonian Hut Shelter on Whitney's summit. Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet.

We progressed back to the North and decided to cross the Owens Valley while we were still South of Bishop. Here, we are looking North up the Sierras and heading East to cross the valley.

We progressed North on the White Mountain Range to White Mountain Peak and then headed West to Glass Mountain which is a little South of Mono Lake. We ran into a bit of trouble there, and Gavin had to work really hard for a save. Once we had enough altitude, we headed North again past Mono Lake. The late afternoon sun on the lake was gorgeous.

After that, we needed only one more small climb near Mount Patterson and then we were on final glide for home! We cruised all the way home at 120 knots and still had a thousand feet to spare when we arrived. Here we are upon arriving. Can you tell that I am happy?

This is our GPS trace from the flight.

Day one totals: Flight time - 5.8 hours, Distance covered - 425 miles

Day 2 - Sunday, July 26, 2009

I was scheduled to fly with Devin on the second day and we would have no followers. Instead we team flew with another of the featured instructors, Gordon "Gordo" Boettger. Gordo is an accomplished wave pilot with many extreme flights, including one where he flew from Minden to Colorado on a single flight.

We decided to head for Mount Whitney again and see what the day held in store for us. The Carson Valley was slow to start on Sunday, so we took a long tow to the Southern end of the valley where we had heard reports of lift. Devin did a magnificent job of getting us up to 10,000 ft MSL very close to the mountain. I took over from there and got us up to 15,000 ft MSL and we proceeded to where Gordo was reporting very strong lift.

Here, we are joining Gordo and heading South near Topaz Lake.

The next several shots show us flying in formation with Gordo as we progressed South. Notice how hard it is to see him in the next shot as a glider presents a small profile even while turning.

I particularly like this shot as Gordo's glider is reflected on our wing.

This is looking West into Yosemite National Park. The line of clouds that we were flying under had an extension to the West. So we decided to penetrate out into Yosemite. At our Western most point, we were more than half-way across the Sierras and we could have flown out into California's central valley (although we would not have been able to get back).

Devin described the area we were flying in as "no man's land", and that if someone had to land out here, their best choice would be to land in one of the "numerous small lakes".

After running as far West as the clouds allowed, we returned to the East. In the next shot, Gordo is getting low and he called over the radio "HELLO!". We soon found, and notified him of, an 8 knot "gas station" and he quickly came over and filled up! An obvious benefit of team flying.

When we resumed on our original Southerly track to Mount Whitney, we found that the route was effectively shut down at Mammoth Mountain due to rain. Notice the fantastic rainbow!

We decided instead to return a little North and cross the Owens Valley to the White Mountain Range and head South to Cerro Gordo Peak, which is Southeast of Mount Whitney and just outside of the Western edge of Death Valley National Park. Gordo decided not to join us as he had a dinner engagement that evening. This was the last shot we had of him before we went our separate ways.

Once we got to the White Mountain Range, we headed South and did not stop once to thermal in the next 100+ miles at an average groundspeed of over 100 mph.

Here, we have almost arrived at Cerro Gordo Peak and are looking to the Southwest at Owens Dry Lake.

We then turned the Cerro Gordo Peak and headed back North for home. Along the way, we noticed fresh snow (or maybe hail) on one of the peaks that had not been there when we went down.

We decided to leave the White Mountain Range in the vicinity of White Mountain Peak. Here, we are headed to the Northwest towards Glass Mountain.

We arrived in the vicinty South of Mono Lake and found that the conditions were detiorating. We worked a weak line of convergence lift around the East end of the lake and considered our options. We could possibly make Bridgeport, or Mammoth, or Bishop. But, Lee Vining (at the Southwest edge of the lake) seemed to be out of the equation as the virga was reaching the ground (i.e. rain), which can be seen in the next two shots (another case of I couldn't decide which photo I liked better).

We finally found good, solid lift to the Northwest of the lake and the flight was on again! This is looking West as we started to progress North again over the Sierras.

We made one more climb over "numerous small lakes" and we were home free.

On final glide for home, we passed Highway 108 which leads to the Sonora Pass. It is hard to see, but the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center is in the next photo a little left of center. I drive by it on every trip I make to Minden when the Sonora Pass is open.

This is looking West across the Sonora Pass. The plume of smoke is from the Mount Knight fire, which had only begun a few hours earlier. It is only 10 miles North of Twain Harte, where my parents live. As of this writing, on August 4th, 2009, the fire was only 50% contained and had consumed 5,612 acres.

We continued North to Minden and took a little detour into the Hope Valley, flying over the HWY 88 nad 89 intersection and Sorensen's Resort, before returning home to Minden.

This is our GPS flight trace from Sunday.

Day two totals: Flight time - 6 hours, Distance covered - 455 miles

Two days of flying with world class pilots, a top notch glider equiped with the best avionics (including a transponder!), 11.8 hours in the air, 880 miles flown over the most spectacular scenery in the world - PRICELESS!!!

What an awesome experience this was for me! A very special thanks to Gavin and Devin for the two most incredible flights of my life!

Thanks also to Fred and Laurie of SoaringNV for putting on their innagural cross country camp that made it all possible. From the daily weather briefings and guest speakers, to the proffesional binders with excellent cross country materials, to the breakfasts and lunches and the Saturday evening banquet, you two did a fantastic job of pulling it all together! I look forward to doing it again next year.