This page contains an article which is the first in a three part series entitled A Flying Summer Vacation. This page contains Part I: Northwest Roadtrip. This article was first published in the USHGA periodical, Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine in the April 2005 issue.
In the 2005 Summer issue of Paraglider Magazine:
Flying The Sacred Valley of the Incas.
A Flying Summer Vacation
With the desire to fly new paragliding sites and meet new friends, my wife Ursula and I drove seven thousand miles during the summer of 2004. From Telluride, Colorado we traversed a huge loop through the northwest corner of North America. At the end of June snow still blocked the road to our Gold Hill launch, but it was summer in the desert. 
Our first stop was the massive hill of Peavine, north of Reno. Strong winds over California's Sierra Nevada's meant flying west off the backside. Even with two flights, at noon and one thirty, I only flew for forty-five minutes. I got above launch both flights, where strong thermals drifted back. Rather than commit to the leaning column of rising air, I went out front, only to find even stronger sink. The second flight I rode 1200 fpm sink right to the ground. High pressure and strong prevailing wind kept the thermals small and me on the ground, once again denied the experience of a big cross country from Peavine.
That afternoon we left and headed into the insane traffic of the Bay Area. I hoped to get some coastal flying time at the Dumps in Pacifica, just south of San Francisco. As always the Pacific wind blew into the grassy hills. Local pilots claimed the air was "hollow and bumpy" but it was the smoothest I'd flown since winter. After a couple flights it was time to head north for some bigger inland flying.
The afternoon of our third day we stopped at the Whaleback next to the snowy massive of Mount Shasta in Northern California. Conditions were perfect and I climbed out over and over again as the sun dropped toward the horizon. After a couple of hours I flew down to the camp Ursula set up near the landing zone. We cooked dinner as the snowy slopes of Mount Shasta turned orange.
Early the next morning we continued into Oregon. Not surprisingly we found other pilots at the Rogue Valley site of Woodrat, and shared a ride to launch. Again conditions were perfect, but base wasn't high enough to motivate any cross-country. It was fun to fly with other pilots and staying up was easy in the smooth thermals. After two and a half hours it was time to land and begin the long drive north still ahead of us.
After some socializing, pilots started launching from the grassy point. Just east of us Mount Saint Helens rose from the head of the valley. Once above launch the snowy bastions of Mount Rainier came into view. The symmetrical, massive, snow-covered volcanoes that dot the Cascade Range defined the flying at these sites.
As the sun dropped, the thermals grew weaker, yet they remained broad, smooth and abundant. Eventually everyone came in and top landed the grassy bench to avoid the hike back up from the valley below.
We camped nearby, cooked dinner as darkness fell and left the next morning for Seattle's most well known site, Tiger Mountain. We arrived and caught a ride to launch. It was early and there were few other pilots. Still, conditions were good and it was easy to launch, fly around and come in to top land. The air was smooth and the thermals broad. Again Mount Rainier dominated the view, this time to our south. By mid afternoon the sky was full, with too many gliders to count. I top landed for a pee break and we listened as an ambulance came to the LZ to pick up an injured pilot who I had met in the morning. Staying aloft was simple with thermals all over the side of the valley. A few hundred feet over launch, downtown Seattle came into view with the Puget Sound stretching into the distance. 
Long before good flying conditions were over, I flew down and landed. With relatives to visit on nearby Vashon Island I had to miss a little airtime, but still flew for several hours.
We slept above the lapping waves of the Sound and shared an incredible breakfast overlooking the ocean. We walked the length of the beach at low tide while my brother-in-law explained some marine ecology and talked about island life on the Olympic Peninsula. A quick tour to check out the thick green canopy of the rainforest and we hopped the ferry back to Seattle, heading north again to the flying around Bellingham.
We had directions to the flying site at Blanchard, but in the LZ we met several locals who had just landed from sledders and suggested we try Mount Stewart. Our local connection, tandem pilot Jim Wagner, kindly took off work to show us the site. It was very light on launch, and he correctly predicted little lift and short flights. 
The logging company that owns the property kindly allows pilots though their locked gate with a free, signed waiver. The clear cut hillsides are good thermal producers, but today even though I succeeded in getting over launch I didn't get high enough to see nearby Mount Baker, the northern most and final volcano we visited on this week long extravaganza of flying. We fought for every ounce of lift, but still soon landed in a field of waist-high grass that left me sneezing and itchy.
From Nevada to California, through Oregon and Washington State we had exceptionally good luck with weather, soaring conditions, finding launches and meeting pilots. We went the distance and the Cascades rewarded me with hours of soaring and dozens of new friends. Still, it was sad to think back on all we left unexplored. In the dark of night we crossed the border into Canada and our next month of adventure and flying.
Go To Northwest Roadtrip Gallery
Go To A Summer Vacation. Part II: PWC Pemberton-Whistler Championships.
Go To A Summer Vacation. Part III: Mount 7. Golden B.C.
Go To Flying the Sacred Valley of the Incas. 
Flying King Mnt Idaho at the end of the trip.
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