California Paragliding Tour 2004

Santa Barbara! What a great place. We arrived Friday night and met up with Jason at a house we rented from a local pilot Sharon. It had a beach, a balcony and a high speed DSL connection. Saturday morning we decided to go Kayaking in the Channel Islands. Santa Cruz Island. More on that below. Skipping to Sunday we rallied in the LZ so we could all ride up in Richi's van. Thats pretty much how I meet all my pilot friends, on the ride to launch. And at lunch or the Barbeques afterwards! Conditions were less than epic but the views were. I was loving every minute of it. The launch has a very short runway that made it quite exciting into a valley and down to the LZ. We went to local pilot Bob's for a great evening with friends from the Bay area and So Cal. Mondays flying was better but not enough for the beach landing. That evening Jason and I left for LA after lunch with Richi and Annie.

Left: A local pilot soars over launch at Skyport.
Above: The LZ as viewed from space.

Kayak Santa Cruz Island!

Above: JD leads Walter into Split Rock.
Below: Waves surge through a large cave. Jason out front, Walter in the foreground.

Jason, Walter, J.D. and I got on a high speed catamaran in Ventura and headed out to the island at approx 24mph. It took about an hour. After an Island orientation we got in our kayaks and paddled out to sea. We went through several caves of variable difficulty. It was fun timing the surges to ride in and out of the caves on. We saw Dolphins, Sea Lions, Pelicans and Yachts.

After our 4 mile sea trek, we hiked a wonderful pathway that traversed above the water to a point where we could see down to where we were kayaking. A most energizing journey. I shall try to do a photo gallery of this one too.

Walter's mind is at cloudbase. Jason and I said adios to Richi and Anni and headed south to Hollywood. We quickly decided that we needed to get out of town and head for the mountain escape or "fly-shack" in Crestline.

November 13th - Lake Elsinore

It was blowing North today so Marshall was no good. We headed to Lake Elsinore and flew all afternoon. Four flights! One of them was 45min. Thermals abound! It was nice to return to the lake. I had visited previously in February 2002. It has a nice paved highway to launch instead of your typical dirt road. We flew Elsinore for a few days and then returned to LA.

Late November....

Ridge soaring at Palos Verdes.

Its a great way to spend an afternoon. We cruise about 40minutes from Jasons house to the beach. We bring lunch along and enjoy the beach while para-waiting for the wind. Meditation, yoga and photography are used to pass the time. Some days are epic and some we get skunked (no wind).

Any day in California's winter sun is a good day for me. My favorite is flying into the sunset. With enough altitude you can face right into the sun and fly out over the waves crashing below. Jason has told me stories of dolphin checking him out from below. The local birds tend to keep their distance but the occasional hawk will share the lift band from time to time.

Click here to watch the 2.5MB video.

We have yet to do Crestline and Marshall. The weather has not permitted it. Mostly north winds. Which is good for Lake Elsinore.

Thanksgiving was nice. We ate with Jason's family here in LA. We had plenty to eat and we also celebrated Jason's father's birthday with a nice cake for dessert.