Awesome flight, Owen! You sure went a long way east without turning. The return leg over Highway 18 along Arctic Circle with nothing but mountains in every direction must have been wild. To top it all off, you landed damn close to the cone in that unusual NW wind that started around 3:30!
I launched Marshall at 1:30 and got to 6,300 then was down to 4,900 as I approached Crestline! Got to 8,300 S of Billboard, just circling idly from 6k on. Tee shirt, no gloves, so I bailed from the lift at 8,300. Flew to near Glen Helen then back to Marshall area for a series of ups and downs. Long glides in sink then 1,200 FPM up, spiralling on a wingtip.
Was ready to land about 3:10 but saw absolute zero wind at the LZ. Went to Regionals to kill some time, got some unusual turbulence, back to LZ. Still the same, left again. More turb, including getting shoved sideways SW of Cloud Peak and seeing a huge dust cloud near the 750 with no vehicle in sight.
Saw the flags show an east wind for a bit then a few minutes later all indicated steady NW. I spiralled down and landed from the ESE on the grass north of the cones at 3:30 (a little before Owen came in.)
Numerous pilots came in to land from the East side of the LZ and after bringing their gliders up from the brush told tales of altitude bests and turbulence.
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