Sunday, August 26, 2018

Hike & Fly Montana

I'm on a solo road trip, just me and my Geo (paraglider) while Shelley is at a conference. She's also not quite as "crazy" about picking a random mountain, hiking up, and flying off. Whereas, it's one of my favorite adventures these days.

This flight was at Holter Lake, a dammed section of the Missouri River, just north of Helena, Montana. My human powered adventure was an aberration. Pretty much everyone else was there to roar around the reservoir in power boats. That's if they weren't running their generators from early morning till late at night (why?) or using chainsaws (?) to cut their firewood. Sometimes I feel like a stranger in a strange land. (Heinlein reference for scifi fans.)

I was up at sunrise to hike up 1200 feet to the top of a nearby peak. It turned out to be a great site - nice grassy slope to launch, and a big open field to land. I had a beautiful mellow first flight so I turned around and hiked back up. My hiking speed isn't what it used to be, but I still managed it in 45 minutes with no trail. The second flight the thermals were starting but not enough to stay up. But still a fun flight. I was back in the campground by 11am. I'm sure the boaters thought I'd just got up.

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