I drove to JJ's place and piled onto his car for the trip. We arrived at launch about 30 minutes ahead of PK so we hiked our gliders out, noticed the wind blowing straight in, grabbed some blueberries, and then headed to the LZ to meet PK. We repaired the wind sock, set a couple streamers, and talked about potential approaches into the rolling field. PK was a bit worried about the day since he had already driven through light rain on his way south. However, we had come too far to back out; so we drove up, carried the rest of the equipment to launch, and began rigging.
I kept watching the clouds grow like weeds before us. By the time we finished a large cell mushroomed over Mount Greylock and started showing mammatus clouds. Obviously it was not a good time to launch so we snacked on blueberries while discussing the Hoosic Tunnel that exits the mountain nearby. Although the cloud was impressive it never dumped any rain but the high altitude blow off shaded most of the valley and smothered the overactive development long after it drifted away. Once the sky looked reasonable JJ suited up, waited until a few light thermals came through, and launched. He picked a good launch cycle, but the thermal was just not big enough to soar. 3 minutes later he was waving back to us from the LZ below.
PK and I waited a bit longer, but I didn't think it would get much better so I got ready to launch. Luckily for me PK had some radio issues that kept me off of launch when the next thermal came through. Like the thermal JJ launched into, this one lasted only a minute. I decided to sit on launch until a much stronger thermal came along. I didn't have to wait long as the next thermal was strong enough to rustle tree leaves all along the ridge. I ran off and climbed enough that my first turn was back over launch. I continued circling and settled into a 300 fpm (1.5 m/s) climb. I called to PK below and he quickly launched and got above the ridge.
After we briefly played around launch I followed PK south to the steeper portion of the ridge. We found a couple small climbs but were soon dragging our wing tips through the leaves along the top of the ridge trying to stay up. We kept getting lower and lower. PK was a couple hundred feet below me when I decided to park at the bottom of a small cliff. I bounced back and forth like a ping-pong ball climbing 10 feet (3m) on each pass and making each turn at the edge of the lift to maximize my climb. I immensely enjoyed every minute! I eventually jacked my way back up to the top where a couple was enjoying the view and hopefully my show. I briefly chatted with them and apologized for blocking their view. Meanwhile PK headed into the valley and landed at the far end of driving range. PK wanted me to relay his position to JJ, but that wasn't necessary since JJ was just pulling into the range at that very moment.
The thermals slowly became more organized and I was finally able to climb a 1000 feet (300 m) above the ridge and start exploring. The ridge line is about 12 miles (19 km) long and it was fun cruising along checking out the sights below. I kept in touch with JJ and was thrilled when he decided to accept PK's offer to help him launch a second time. I flew over launch and waited for them to arrive. I kept myself busy trying to reach cloud base. The lift was already light, but dropped to 50 fpm (0.25 m/s) near the top. I finally reached 5200 feet (1500 m) as I saw PK and JJ driving around the switchback below launch. I flew to the northern end of the ridge while JJ rigged and watched him launch while I was working my way back. After JJ launched PK talked a couple that walked out to launch into driving JJ's car down to the bailout LZ. Thanks PK.
I played over the valley watching life unfold below and then flew over JJ as he bounced back and forth over launch. I didn't want to get in his way so I continued on to the south. I played around with a hawk, did some speed runs, and made some excursions into the valley to see if anything interesting was happening there. I eventually glided to the other side, didn't find anything, and decided to land at the driving range. The people at The Range are very welcoming and are happy to watch us land. They only request a call beforehand so they know to look up occasionally so they can pause the golfers as we "play through". On Friday they had a tent setup for a company function where I normally land, so I decided to have some fun. I made a fast low pass overhead so they would know I was coming, then swooped in over the stream between the tent and the trees, ground skimmed across the driving range in front of the golfers, and landed with a very sweet no-stepper in front of the mini golf course.
I could see JJ soaring above launch to the north so I took my time breaking down, thanked the people at The Range, and then went for a walk to the Hoosic River taking wildflower pictures with my new iPhone. The day slowly died off and JJ landed in the bailout next to his car after almost 2.5 hours of soaring. I met JJ back at the driving range and after a quick stop for some food at a local ice cream stop we headed home.
Flights: 1, Time: 3:19, Distance: (12 miles)
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