It sure was sunny and onshore this morning. Rain supposed to arrive around 4 PM. Thought about dashing out for a sanity flight instead of going and building hang gliders; can do that while it rains the next couple of days. Saw the top of Marshall Peak in the clear on the CSUSB webcam and made-up my mind.

Was going to fly-and-hike the 750 with my F3T. Drove through the LZ parking lot and met faithful Lawn Technician Tim Ward gassing up a noisy thing. He offered to drive for me so he could check the condition of the dirt road. That meant a lot of saved time for me – maybe I could mow my lawn before the rain! As we started out Tim allowed as he was curious about the condition of the road all the way up to Regionals and I decided I could launch from there instead of down at the 750, for the good of club infrastructure.

Launched at 2:20 and spent a few minutes below Cloud Peak relaxing before a real thermal came along with 300-500 FPM tight. Got above Cloud Peak and steadily to 5k+. Could have easily let myself get drawn up to base at 6k or so but I went back to Crestline. As I arrived I pulled in to crab below the ridge, concerned about slipping behind if I got into faster flow above. A few minutes later it was mellower. Chilly as all hell. Spectacular with the frosted trees and bare ground.

Flew out and down, stuffing the bar to Regionals and barely dropping. Below 3.5k it was mellow. Went and landed and felt really happy and relaxed for the first time in a week or more. Thanks for driving, Tim!

Got home and mowed the lawn to match the neighbors’ freshly-mown lawns and it was even sunnier at 6 PM.

Now there’s no non-essential work going on down in Orange County so that’s what I get for skipping work and going flying for the first time evar.

UPDATE – Message from Mike Meier: “Following a clarification of the intent of the Order from the County Health Officer, Wills Wing will reopen for business at 6:00 AM tomorrow, Thursday, March 19th…”

Launch, Crestline, Aero, Landing : 2 minutes

Frosty Trees at Crestline: 1 minute

Tim Ward and my Falcon 3 Tandem at Regionals.

Four freshly-mown lawns and a great sky.