Saturday March 20, 2004.  I launched from Crestline at 2pm.  There was moderate lift below launch level that was cyclic, leaving some stranded and heading for the lower mountains, and others blasting off into the stratosphere.  I launched (at 5200 feet) into a nice cycle of lift, and hung in there to gain 500 feet altitude over launch where the thermals were collecting nicely.  Above 7000 feet, the thermals were explosive.  I was averaging 800 feet per minute climb with bursts over 2000 feet per minute.  The lift was smooth and powerful.  I climbed to 10,260 feet at my highest point, where I took these pictures.  I spent 80% of my flight above 8000 feet, and most of my flight above 9000.  At my highest point, a Cessna 172 went flying past me heading out to the desert, probably to Vegas.  It was about 1000 feet below me.  Yowza.

To answer all of you questions… yes, it was freezing up there and no… I didn’t need oxygen.  Although I could feel the thinness of the air in my breathing.  Actually, it was so dry and cold my teeth were aching.

In this picture, you can see the shear line.  The moist, hazy sea breeze was pushing north into San Bernardino.  While the dry desert air in the bottom half of the picture is pushing in from the north.  In the battle of the weather systems, the big winners are the hang glider pilots.  As the two systems push against each other, the air has only one place to escape… UP!  In the bottom left of the picture is Marshall Peak (elevation 3000’).  It is the mountain with the little clearing on the summit (like a dot).  And on the bottom right of the picture you can see Cal State San Bernardino.  If you look really closely, you can see the landing zone.

In this picture, you can see Lake Gregory (the near lake) and Lake Arrowhead (the far lake).  The snowy mountaintop in the background is Big Bear Mountain, elevation 8806.  I’m actually 1454 feet above the top of that mountain here!  And take note of the burn area from the massive fires that struck last fall.  The left half shows Crestline and the surrounding areas that were saved from the devastation, and the right side of the image, clearly burnt clean.

So there you go, two miles off the ground on my hang glider… Floatilla, a.k.a. my Wills Wing Falcon 2 225.