I didn't see too many birds driving through Saskatchewan, just the occasional magpie or crow. A few years ago when there was a snowy owl irruption it was common to see them, but none this trip. Although conditions didn't seem much different, once I got across the border into Montana there were lots of hawks. Strangely, there don't seem to be so many in Wyoming. Just outside Havre a bald eagle flew low over the road in front of me. I thought they liked to be around open water, but the river is mostly frozen. I also saw a ring-necked pheasant in the ditch. They're common and not native, but they're still flashy birds.
Since I was planning to travel via Billings, I would be passing by the Five Springs paragliding site. I had it in the back of my mind that if there wasn't too much snow, and if the weather was mild, that maybe I'd squeeze in a quick flight. Checking the forecast for Billings I saw it was going to be +7c which seemed promising. But then I saw the wind prediction was 25 km/hr which was stronger than I'd like. But the forecast for the flying site itself, was for 5 km/hr and from the right direction. Perfect! The temperature was -5c though, a little chilly for flying.
Driving south from Billings the wind looked strong, but I crossed my fingers and kept going for Five Springs. When I got to Lovell there was a sign that the road was closed in 20 miles. Hmmm. It made sense that the road over the mountains would be closed in the winter, but I just wanted to get to the foot of them. I kept going. I was getting quite close when there was another sign that the road was closed in 1/2 a mile. That turned out to be right at the pull off for the landing :-)
Amazingly, the forecast was correct and there was almost no wind. And, bonus, it was a sunny 0c.
It took me a few minutes to get my gear organized and find everything I needed. I was afraid I'd forget something essential. Instead, I carried my heavy radio which I didn't need for flying on my own. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground, but it had melted in patches so it was good hiking up the hill. It's always funny seeing the prickly pear cactus poking up out of the snow.
I made good time (for me) up the 500m to the launch. I thought I'd be doing a forward launch with the lack of wind. But there were steady cycles perfect for a reverse launch.
It's been a few months since I've flown, and I realized this was only my second real (non training hill) flight on my new Phi Symphonia wing. So I made extra sure to double check all my gear and setup. The wing came up smoothly, I checked the lines, turned, took a couple of steps, and I was in the air. I continued to be careful, flying away from the hill and getting terrain clearance.
With no wind, and winter conditions, I was expecting a short "sled" ride, but amazingly there was quite a lot of lift. I guess that makes sense since the sun was definitely heating the ground. And the cycles at launch were presumably thermic. I suspect the thermals didn't go very high, but despite dressing warmly, it was too cold too want to find out. I hung around launch, maintaining fairly easily. It was actually mildly bumpy in spots. I'm not sure where that was coming from, since the thermals themselves were pretty gentle.
After about 20 minutes my fingers were starting to freeze so I headed down. I was a little long on my landing - forgot there was no wind down there. But the LZ is huge so no problem.
I'm glad I took the chance and made the detour to fly. The forecast is for -20c tomorrow so I don't think I'll be doing any more flying until I'm further south!
Since I was planning to travel via Billings, I would be passing by the Five Springs paragliding site. I had it in the back of my mind that if there wasn't too much snow, and if the weather was mild, that maybe I'd squeeze in a quick flight. Checking the forecast for Billings I saw it was going to be +7c which seemed promising. But then I saw the wind prediction was 25 km/hr which was stronger than I'd like. But the forecast for the flying site itself, was for 5 km/hr and from the right direction. Perfect! The temperature was -5c though, a little chilly for flying.
Driving south from Billings the wind looked strong, but I crossed my fingers and kept going for Five Springs. When I got to Lovell there was a sign that the road was closed in 20 miles. Hmmm. It made sense that the road over the mountains would be closed in the winter, but I just wanted to get to the foot of them. I kept going. I was getting quite close when there was another sign that the road was closed in 1/2 a mile. That turned out to be right at the pull off for the landing :-)
Amazingly, the forecast was correct and there was almost no wind. And, bonus, it was a sunny 0c.
It took me a few minutes to get my gear organized and find everything I needed. I was afraid I'd forget something essential. Instead, I carried my heavy radio which I didn't need for flying on my own. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground, but it had melted in patches so it was good hiking up the hill. It's always funny seeing the prickly pear cactus poking up out of the snow.
I made good time (for me) up the 500m to the launch. I thought I'd be doing a forward launch with the lack of wind. But there were steady cycles perfect for a reverse launch.
It's been a few months since I've flown, and I realized this was only my second real (non training hill) flight on my new Phi Symphonia wing. So I made extra sure to double check all my gear and setup. The wing came up smoothly, I checked the lines, turned, took a couple of steps, and I was in the air. I continued to be careful, flying away from the hill and getting terrain clearance.
With no wind, and winter conditions, I was expecting a short "sled" ride, but amazingly there was quite a lot of lift. I guess that makes sense since the sun was definitely heating the ground. And the cycles at launch were presumably thermic. I suspect the thermals didn't go very high, but despite dressing warmly, it was too cold too want to find out. I hung around launch, maintaining fairly easily. It was actually mildly bumpy in spots. I'm not sure where that was coming from, since the thermals themselves were pretty gentle.
After about 20 minutes my fingers were starting to freeze so I headed down. I was a little long on my landing - forgot there was no wind down there. But the LZ is huge so no problem.
I'm glad I took the chance and made the detour to fly. The forecast is for -20c tomorrow so I don't think I'll be doing any more flying until I'm further south!
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