Camels Part 1

I spent the latter part of October and early November working non-stop so I could get time off for a late fall hang gliding trip to Utah with Jeff and Adam. When ever the three of us get together a great adventure always ensues. Adam is leaving for his home country of South Africa in December so this was our last chance at a flying adventure for a while. My plan was to head to Utah last Tuesday for 5 days of flying at the Point of the Mountain (the Point) and a possible trip to the Salt Flats or Southern Utah. Monday I woke up with a fever and a sore throat, the cost of working so much the weeks before. I adopted a strategy of ignoring my deteriorating condition and focus on making it until Tuesday morning when my flight to Utah left. By Monday night I was a prisoner in my own bed lacking enough energy to even pack up my hang gliding harness. I would not be going to Utah on Tuesday.



Tuesday turned out to be one of the best flying days at the Point in recent history with almost 20 hang glider pilots turning out to enjoy the epic flying conditions. Jeff and Adam got enough airtime for the three of us. Wednesday had similar favorable conditions, but a weather system packing multiple cold fronts was on the way. I spent both days resting so I might be able to salvage some of the trip. Thursday my energy level had recovered some and I felt like I could make the flight to UT. When I landed in Salt Lake the cold front had arrived and it was snowing, but the forecast showed conditions clearing for a 30 hour window before the next front. If we were to fly, Friday would be the day. Adam picked me up and we met Jeff for an evening of gyros and bluegrass.

Adam and I woke up at 6am on Friday with hopes of soaring the Point at dawn. The conditions were super light so we elected to sleep in so I could conserve energy for the afternoon. After a couple hours more sleep Adam woke me up and cooked me breakfast - what a host! They say garlic helps with a cold and maybe Adam's subconscious was thinking that when he accidentally dumped garlic powder in our eggs instead of salt. He tried to cover up the garlic with excessive amounts of salt, but it only made it worse. With no more eggs to cook we forced the them down. It was a symphony of garlic smelling burps as we loaded up the gliders. As we headed south on I-15 towards the Point the garlicy eggs headed south through my digestive system. Adam was in hell!



Jeff made plans to meet us at the Point. When we got there the winds were light and a few paragliders were struggling to stay aloft. Soaring the South Side of the Point requires winds from the south, but the post-frontal north winds were stopping the usual morning south winds from developing. It could get better as the next front approached, but it was a gamble and I didn't want to spend our last trip together scratching at the point. We hatched a plan to continue south to a site named Camels.

View from the Land Zone

View from Launch

The Camels Launch sits on a mountain about 3800 feet above the valley west of Utah Lake. I have a unique history with Camels. On my 5th day of hang gliding ever and my first mountain launch I crashed there 4 years ago. It has been the only unintended contact with the ground of my hang gliding career. A couple steps into my launch run I tripped over a dog that was chasing me. As I fell, I pushed out on the glider causing it to become airborne prematurely. The glider was stalled and because of the steep slope of the mountain I suddenly found myself 30 feet over the ground. I dove at the ground hoping to gain enough airspeed to maintain some level of control. It hit the ground on my feet in an area of waist deep bushes that actually helped by arresting my speed. Other than a few scratches on me and tears in the glider we were both fine and I walked away with a lesson learned - never stop flying the glider, even on the ground.

Stay tuned for Part 2...