There were hundreds!

Yesterday Greg and I ran down to the North Side. The weather information we got on the internet looked like conditions could be strong later in the day - a good thing. It had been over a month since Greg had flown so he was excited about the possibility of getting some airtime. As we approached Draper around 3:30 pm, the wind was barely moving the flags along the freeway - a bad thing. Dude was the only other pilot at the Point when we arrived, and he was set up and ready to go. Dude's readiness and enthusiasm motivated us to start throwing things together in the light winds. As we were setting up, Dude began making his way to launch as a few paras threatened to take to the air. Minutes later he took off in a good cycle and without too much effort was benched up. (For those unfamiliar with hang gliding lingo, the Northside launch at the Point is only 200+ ft above the ground with a 1000 ft ridge directly in back. Typically the goal is to get to the higher ridge - benched up).

Soon after Dude launched, a visiting pilot took off only to find himself in the bailout LZ below launch a few minutes later. I launched into a decent cycle, and benched up rather low on the west end of the main ridge. As I watched and waited for Greg to join me, the air at launch was quickly transformed into a sea of bobbling panties - (para gliders). This situation is the bane of all hang glider pilots, especially for Greg at this moment. As fate would have it, the horde only thickened, further frustrating Greg's launch efforts. Finally Greg had a decent launch window and folded into the currents of airborne jellyfish above. Later we all landed safely with a little more airtime to log.