Back at the Crawfords

It's the middle of summer and the XC season is quickly fading. With only a handful of short XC flights between the amigos, the hunger grows and trigger fingers are getting sorta itchy. Cody and I set our sights on the Crawfords for the second time this month.
Dorothy was kind enough to drive once again.

When we crested the top of the mountain, it was apparent the wind forecast was a bit off. The predicted 9-11mph from the west was in reality 20-30mph from the southwest. Cody was first to launch, and in less than five minutes he was 2 grand over and climbing. I followed finding less buoyant conditions, but soon caught up with Cody and we were climbing together. We left the launch area and drifted to the north hoping to connect with highway 30 and head northeast toward Kemmerer, Wyoming. The wind at 10 grand was close to 40mph and climb rates slowed down the further north we ventured. I decided to head north long 30 as apposed to going east toward Kemmerer as originally planned. The climbs were fun and as usual the area provided vivid landscapes in every direction.

We continued north on 30 and landed 36.6 miles from launch. Great landings - big smiles!

Not that far, but big in quality.



Cummies were in abundance!


Highway 30 stretching south toward the Crawfords.


Gorgeous views in every direction.

The Crawfords 7.22.09

Beautiful place to fly! Endless landing possibilities, rivers that wind through the flats in front of launch etc., etc.. We take to the air after a wait for the wind to straighten out and find the light wind is plenty to keep us up. Landon and Matt take off just a bit early and sink out, the rest of us get around an hour of airtime in. Landing in the big LZ at the bottom is nice - the field has recently been cut. A few of us stop over in Randolph for a burger and shake at Gators.

Albion Basin - Alta, Utah

Julie and I went for walking tour of Albion Basin last weekend. Following are some Pics of our excursion.


The hike starts here at he top of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Albion Basin is inside Alta Ski Resort, and less than two miles from the bottom of the lower lifts. Most of the hike is on well maintained trails used for mountain biking, and resort vehicle access.

Catching Up

just a quick catch up.

So far, since June 1st, I've logged 5 flights at our new launch - "Site X" (somewhere on the Wasatch Back), 4 of which have been soaring flights. The first flight at Site X was a fantastic flight, gaining over 4 grand and touring the area - with of course the usual suspects.

Sunday, July 5th, Greg and I flew Inspo. I had a low save and ended up with a 2+ hour flight with several gains to over 12,500asl. Greg had a later launch and missed the better air. He worked hard to get up, but ended up landing in the bailout LZ.

Today Cody and I had a fun XC flight from the Short Divide. We launched around 2pm in a stiff south wind. We quickly reached departure altitude (11,500asl) and were over the back. The Cache Valley is such a beautiful area, especially with all the rain. We leisurely drifted in light lift over the town of Westin and then Preston with fun gains to 10 grand and change. Cody ended up with a 35 mile flight to Thacher. I headed toward Swan Lake for 28 miles.