Mission Complete, I have reached Nevada!

The vol biv traverse of California and the Sierra Nevada has been completed! I arrived at Verdi, Nevada for the finish line, having flown 56% of the route and hiking the other 44%. The 800 kilometers (500 miles) were amazing! Scroll down to see the trip evolve, from an idea to an epic adventure!

(Scroll towards the bottom of the page for current updates)

Spring has arrived, and it’s time to have an epic adventure!

I am embarking upon another hike-and-fly mission: to start on the Pacific Ocean in Ventura, California, and travel all the way to the northern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range by using only foot and paraglider travel. This epic 500+ mile (800+ km) route will take me from sea level at the Pacific Ocean, up through the coastal mountains, out to the dry desert peaks of the Mojave, and eventually up to the cool, high Sierra Nevada.

I will be traveling alone and unsupported, relying upon myself the entire way. I will be accepting no transport of any type, and the entire distance will be covered either by hiking or by flying my Ozone LM5 paraglider.

The route is going to be very difficult, as it crosses remote and inhospitable terrain on my way north. I will start flying from the Ventura area after leaving the beach on foot, and proceed from there. The coastal mountains will soon run out, and I will move more inland around Ojai. From there I will try and dive deep towards Frazier Park and cross Interstate 5 on my way over the Mojave Desert peaks towards Tehachapi. This section is very dry and remote, but will lead to the southern tip of the Sierra once I cross highway 178. From there the true Sierra starts, and runs clear past Tahoe all the way to Honey Lake and highway 36, which is the northern end of the Sierra Range. This is where the Sierra ends, and the Cascades begin. Complex, but amazing.

At first I thought of this as being a nice warm-up for my  plans for Europe this summer, but all things considered, flying the Sierra can be more committing and difficult than traversing the Alps. They are their own different beasts, and this one has a stiff reputation- the Sierra is for real.

I hope to travel as far north as possible with the time I have, with Interstate 80 or highway 36 being the proposed finish line. I have one month to make it happen.

To keep up to date on what’s happening during the trip, follow along-

Facebook- I will be keeping up to date posts on my page ‘Dave Turner, Mammoth Lakes CA’

Live Tracking Map- Very easy to follow along on my live tracking and GPS updates

Sierra Paragliding home page posts- When possible, I will update stories and photos from along the way

The kit all packed up and ready to roll:

The gear weighs a total of 37.5 pounds (17kg) for everything you see here (including a full fuel canister). Add on top of this food and water, and that’s everything.

For this monster mission I have put together a very nice hiking/flying/camping set-up:

Items (clockwise from top right):

Glider: Ozone LM5 EN-D lightweight cross-country paraglider- Light and fast, and packs down very small. I am very happy with how this glider behaves, and it is the perfect blend of performance and safety for adventures like this. Thanks Ozone!

Harness: Ozone Ozium lightweight pod harness- Very light and compact, while still retaining plenty of storage room for all the goodies. This sleek and elegant harness is at the cutting edge of the new breed of lighter pod harnesses, I’m very happy with it.

Reserve: High Adventure Beamer 3 Lite- Absolutely the best balance of sink rate, pack volume, weight, security, and maneuverability. Every mountain pilot should have this reserve, I am very glad to have it on these big vol biv adventures. Thank you High Adventure!

Pack: Ozone’s X-Alps lightweight pack- Nice and trim. Much lighter than the normal series of packs from Ozone.

Clothing: All of my clothing for this adventure is from Patagonia, as they produce the finest outdoor apparel in my opinion. For this trip I have chosen the Dragonfly jacket, a Fitz Roy down jacket, a R1 hoody, a wool/synthetic blend t-shirt, a collar t-shirt, zip-off pants, and three pairs of socks.

Shoes: New Balance trail running shoes- very light, yet supportive.

Trekking Poles: Black Diamond Ultra Distance carbon fiber three-piece trekking poles. Best poles around, hands down.

Tent: Black Diamond One Shot one person tent- not the most comfortable, but at 2 1/2 pounds, it has redeeming qualities. This is the tent I took on my 900km vol biv adventure over the Alps last year, it’s a proven performer.

Sleeping Pad: Thermarest ProLite 3 Regular- A new lighter one has come out, but this is the one I have. Maybe for Europe this summer I will get the new NeoLite.

Sleeping bag: North Face ultralight down sleeping bag- I think it is a 20 degree F.

Helmet: Black Diamond climbing helmet.

Sun Hat: Patagonia’s Booney hat, very nice on hot days.

Water Storage: I have a 10 liter MSR bladder, as well as two 1 liter Platapus flexible water bottles.

Solar Panel: Goal Zero 7 with additional battery and cord.

Camera: GoPro Hero3+ with cord and 64gb card.

Headlamp: BD headlamp, light and bright.

Emergency Beacon/GPS Messenger: Delorme InReach SE- awesome. Able to send and receive texts and emails from anywhere, as well as other functions. It has bluetooth interface with the Iphone, complete with a do-everything app.

Vario: Sonic vario from FlyTec

Phone: Iphone 5s with cord and headphones

Stove kit: MSR butane stove, MSR non-stick pot and lit, pot gripper, fuel can, coffee filter, spoon, wind screen, stuff sack, food bag, coffee cup.

Toiletries: Toothbrush and paste, Dr Brommers soap, sunscreen, lip balm, toilet paper, deodorant, ibuprofen.

Other items: money, ID, credit card, sunglasses, knife, 2 lighters, gloves.

I would like to thank Ozone Paragliders, High Adventure, Patagonia, Asolo, and Black Diamond for their support. Having the best gear out there makes a difference!

Check out my plans for this Summer, another big one!

Updates from the Field!!!-

Days 1 thru 6 Update:

Even with windy non-flyable weather conditions, I’m having a great time! The wind has been moderate to strong from the north most days, so the majority of progress has been made by foot. Here is a recap of what has happened in the past 6 days-

Game on!! And so the adventure begins…Sunset start from the coast, hiking my way towards the peaks now. Adventure is guaranteed, the time is now.

Day 1 (April 19th):

I started out from Ventura on day one, leaving in the dark after having a grand final dinner with Peter. I really wanted to get the adventure started, and did not want to wait until the next morning.

When Peter said he wanted to take me for a big meal before my trip, he wasn’t joking!All of this will be burned up on the trails in no time!

After a big steak, I started walking. I hiked out of town,  and camped halfway between Ventura and Ojai after a good few hours of night hiking.

Day 2:

I woke up and got out early, as I needed to get past Ojai and to the NutHouse launch. I had another 10 miles or so to get to launch, and had already hiked 8 miles last night. I made quick progress, and even got to meet up with O.J., Robby, and Peter at different times during the morning hike. They were all watching me on live tracking, and had dropped by to say hi. O.J. took off, and both Robby and Peter came up to launch with me.

Robby laughed at me when he asked how the hell I was gonna fit all this crap in my little pod harness, as I replied that I had no idea since I never did a practice pack/hang with the full kit. I knew it would all fit no problem, but because I was diving deep into the Sespe area, I had 12 liters of water and 4 days of food on board. I was over loading the glider by a solid 10kg’s, and even had to tie the pack on the outside of the pod!

Time to go!

Launch went well, except I started bombing out right off the bat. I was trying my best to find the tiniest bit of lift to surf up, but it was slim pickings. The vertical drop of the launch above the level of the ‘LZ’ is maybe 1,500 feet if that, so there is not much time to find a thermal. I lost over half of this altitude before hooking into a nice little something, and I took it up over the summit as they cheered me on from below. The link to the ground had been broken, I had climbed out. I pointed down range and started flying XC.

I did not get too far until I had to make a choice as passed Nordoff Peak and approached Chief Peak. The route I wanted to take was the next range to the north, the Sespe Range, and continuing towards Santa Paula was not option #1. As I approached the top of the Chief, I had to either top land and hike down the backside, or get blown over and take the tail wind  to the next range or LZ. The wind was strong on top, and I was just above summit level. I was too close to the peak to turn tail and run, the rotor would get me. So I top landed in strong wind, and started hiking down the shorter back side.

Great flight yesterday, epic trail-less cross country hiking over the Sespe Crest today. All smiles, pushing on.From yesterday’s flight from Ojai-

Sometimes in vol biv you must not think ony like an XC pilot, you must take into account the overall strategy of what you are trying to accomplish. In this case, I probably could have continued heading east, but I needed to go north. If I had not top landed and gotten low, I would of had to land on the south side of the peaks somewhere. That would mean a grueling hike up over the peaks, and wasted time. So I chose the best course of action to me at the time, and landed on the summit.

I hiked down the backside after pouring out most of my water, and made my way towards the wild and scenic Sespe area. As I approached a campsite for the night, another friend had tracked me down by my GPS live track. Theo lives very nearby this area, and had come to say hi. He ended up camping with me, and seeing me off the next morning.

From Theo-

Ran into this guy yesterday after i checked the tracker and noticed he was 5 minutes down the the road from my house. I drove on down and we chilled at Middle Lion Campground for the night. Here he is about to set off on foot into the Sespe headed for bigger mountains and smaller bushes. Good luck dave! Fly high, fly far!

Day 3:

After a bad start, I got lost for 45 minutes, I was on track and heading deep into the Sespe. This is one of the most remote areas in all of SoCal, absolutely beautiful. The wind was forecasted to be gusty, so I just hiked. And hiked. All the way to a campsite at the base of a hot springs.

Last nights campsite-

Day 4:

A very difficult day.

After starting out over the giant peak to my north on a trail-less cross country hike, I soon realized that I was in for one hell of a bushwacking adventure! I zigged and zagged my way through the peaks, and crossed directly over the highest peaks. I looked for a suitable launch site, but the wind was not going the way I needed it to, there was nowhere to lay my wing out in the dense brush, and the velocity of the wind was highly questionable for flying! Dang, another day of no flying, so I made my way down the horrible backside on my way to Mutau Flat.

Once at the Flat, I was rewarded with mountain topography instead of high desert peaks. Big pine trees, cool clear creeks with trout, and granite boulders greeted me. I finally started to feel back at home in the higher peaks. I made my way down the drainage to find a campsite for the night. I instead found giant bear tracks crossing the creeks on the trail in front of me; his giant tracks were still filling back in with water as I passed over them. We camped together, I’m sure.

Day 5:

I hiked up Lockwood Creek towards the town of Frazier Park for a resupply on food. I was completely out of rations now, and was hungry. I had brought four days of food, and now was day five. I also got a GPS message from my mom saying that she would meet me at the local market for a quick meet up. So I headed out hiking and found her in town.

We ended up camping and hanging out, and had a great time.

Day 6:

We woke up from our nearby campsite, and started the day. She drove ahead in the car, and I hiked my way to meet her at Interstate 5. Here we are now, sitting in the Denny’s after having a big breakfast.

Now:

I have now bought more food, and am ready to continue. Motivation is high, but the forecast is not cooperating much. Springtime is generally hit or miss, and right now it seems like more of a ‘miss’. The forecast looks like copious amounts of north wind over the next few days. Whether or not I will be able to get any progress in by air is questionable. But thats ok with me, as it will just make it all the more sweet once I hit the southern Sierra and start chewing up the miles by paraglider travel! I have another 60 or so miles of lower peaks to make it to the southern tip of the Sierra, lets see how it goes….

May 11th UPDATE (Days 7 thru 22)

(Click here for the trip’s home page, w/ all updates, description, & pics)

I’ve been on the move!!

It has been two weeks since I last wrote in with whats been going on, and a lot has happened since then. The bad weather has continued for much of this section, but I have had four nice flights despite the lack of good flying conditions. It was seeming like I was hiking the whole damn route at first, until I started to hit the real mountains and make up distance in the air. Just yesterday, I logged a 88 mile flight from Walt’s Point up to the Mammoth area. Times are improving.

When I left Frazier Park and the Interstate 5 area, my pack was bursting at the seams with food and supplies. I was heading through the remote Mojave peaks and Southern Sierra, and wanted to have at least 8+ days of food with me because of the lack of re-supply points on the high route. I was planning on not dropping off the peaks and high trails whenever possible, and hiking or flying the high line. Slower and more rugged than hiking down in the deserts, but I wanted to be ready to fly at a moments notice and always sleep up high.

The next day after the re-supply at I-5, I unknowingly came upon HikerTown and and the start of my Pacific Crest Trail section. I weighed my pack here- ughhh 73 lbs! I kept on hiking through the wind and upcoming storm for another three days, meeting all sorts of hikers and great people along the way. One of them most notably was Cory aka ‘Night Time’ a PCT thru-hiker who I hiked with for almost four days throughout the bad weather. We cranked out anywhere between 18-30 miles per day, and really moved along headed north.

But close to Kelso Valley he went on ahead, as the next day looked flyable and I wanted to stay at the peak to take advantage of this. I bid him farewell, only to fly over him the next day after he hiked his ass off, and I glided along. I made it to the Walker Pass area before I got low and had to land. I landed in front of him on the trail, and gave some hoots as I flew overhead. He caught up as I finished packing, and we started hiking again. Keep on moving.

The next day was forecasted to have some potential as well, so I decided to make camp on the peak top not far from where I landed, as he kept on hiking. I took off the next morning and instantly got boosted high over the Southern Sierra. I was finally on home ground, and in the air. I cruised north and passed over our ‘Nine Mile Canyon’ launch, and pressed on towards Whitney. As I got about halfway to Walt’s Point, it started to get quite windy. I made the choice to turn inland, and cross over the west side of the crest and land in Kennedy Meadows for a much needed re-supply and burger. I had wanted to make it much further, but I had to make due with what I had.

I was lucky to get these two consecutive flying days in, because the next five days were bad weather. I hiked north to Walt’s Point to be in position, and that is exactly where I was when the weather improved.

Launching Walt’s felt great as it is my favorite place to fly in California, if not anywhere. I climbed on out over the peaks, but instantly I could tell that the west wind was going to be a big problem for a long flight, and also the clouds were gonna over develop and blow up. No matter, I was here to make distance, and this is what I was going to do as long as I could sustain flight.

I soared past Mt Whitney and Williamson on my way north, as the wind increased. I took a beating while crossing in front of Onion Valley, only to be boosted up and up in the strong thermals above Kersarge Peak. While crossing the Palisades it started to fully cloud in and snow lightly, but even with 100% cloud cover, the thermals and clouds were pumping! It was weird to be on full speed bar, vario screaming away, while in a snowstorm. Gotta love the Owen’s Valley- it makes you feel alive.

While passing Bishop the sky became sunnier, but the WSW wind was cranking. I had to slow down and fly the smaller Buttermilk Mountains back towards Mt Tom, as the cloud base was too low over Coyote Ridge to take the quicker back route. I made it over to Mt Tom on the weaker flatland-ish thermals, only to be boosted up and over to Wheeler Crest.

At this point I had been hiding behind the High Sierra and it’s wind shadowed eastern escarpment. But once I rounded around the corner of Wheeler and pointed it towards Mammoth and the west wind, I knew I would not make it to the town of Mammoth Lakes. It was blowing 20+ where I was over Red Peak, and I knew it was probably 50+ mph through the Mammoth venturi coming over from the west side. All I could do was stay low behind Mt Morgan and McGee, and scoot through to the Green Church just past the LZ for McGee. I landed out in the nice grassy field, and was extremely psyched to make this 88 mile flight. It was just what I needed after all the hiking, bad weather, and shorter flights down south.

I hiked into Mammoth the next morning to meet up with friends, eat good food, and relax for a few days. The weather forecast has given me another mandatory 3 day rest break- winds on the summit of Mammoth over the last few days have been 50-130 mph! I write this now with high hopes for flying tomorrow, as the wind is supposed to die down. Lets see what happens.

I have now completed 305 straight-line miles of hiking and flying, and I have another 215 to go until I make my goal of the Southern Cascades and the end of the Sierra at Highway 36. The total length of the route that I am attempting is 520 miles, so I am already over half-way there.

Of the 305 miles that I have completed, 46% of the distance has been covered by flying, and 54% by hiking. I will not hike any more long sections of trail at this point. It is too difficult to cover ground quickly through the High Sierra on foot, so I hope to be flying most the remaining distance. Plus, it’s not cool to hike for distance when the terrain is perfect for flying.  My goal is to always have any vol biv route at least have over 50% of the distance made by flying. If not, then your just carrying your glider around and thats not very sporting.

All is well here in Mammoth, but I can’t wait to leave.

-Dave

May 11th, 2014

Here are the daily updates and pics-

Flying above the NutHouse launch by Ojai during the beginning of the trip-

Flying above Nordoff Peak, headed towards The Chief and Sespe-

Looking towards Santa Paula along the Coastal Mountains-

Top landing up high-

April 24(Day 6)

Well, I had the first major wrong turn of the trip so far. I assumed that the biggest peaks between highways 5 and 58 were accessible to the public, big mistake. It seems that some super giant land grabber called Tejon Ranch owns the entire range- and get this, they don’t allow access! I called them to ask for special permission to pass through, and they said no way.So it cost me many wasted miles and backtracking, and I’ve had to come way out into the flats to go around this offensive ‘ranch’. It’s actually a high end hunting club it seems.

I’ve hiked about 20 miles today, and the pack is incredibly heavy after the re-supply in the towns. Good news is that I’m only about five miles from the Pacific Crest Trail now, and I’ll be back in the mountains tomorrow. Now, if the weather would just cooperate!Here are a few pics from the hike today-

April 25

Here comes the leading edge of the stormy weather-

April 25

I made it to ‘HikerTown’! This is a great rest area for through hikers on the PCT, a nice area to rest up, fill water, grab a shower, charge electronics, and meet other hikers. Areas like this one are absolutely awesome, a big help to travelers.From here I take off for the last portion of desert travel, and will be headed towards the higher peaks. The weather forecast is still looking grim, so it’s more hiking for now. Looking forward to getting in the air soon, bigger peaks are on the horizon.

April 25

Uh oh. The clouds are getting angry…

Surprisingly strong storm last night and this morning. The clouds were threatening all day yesterday, but never let loose until the evening. It was all I could do to lash the little tent down to some Joshua trees before all hell broke loose with the wind and then the rain.Just relaxing in the tent now, about to work on the second cup of coffee. My brain is telling me to get out of the tent, put the rain jacket on, and keep charging! But my legs are telling me to just take it easy this morning, have another coffee or two, and use this short break to rest the body.The base weight of my full camping/hiking/flying kit is 40 lbs. When I left TrailTown yesterday I stepped on the scale with all the food and one day of water in the pack- ouch, 73 lbs!

 

I guess I’ll compromise and chill for another hour or two, but then it’s back on the trail. I think is only another 150 miles to the Boomer Ridge, which is the southern tip of the higher Sierra. Technically the Sierra starts at highway 58 at Tehachapi Pass in another 50 miles or so, but these peaks are similar to the lower desert-peaks that I’ve already been crossing.Ok, another coffee now. And some hip hop blasted at full volume. And some partying in the tent! Not too bad of a morning…

May 2

Looks like it could turn out to be a very nice day up here!-

Walt’s Point!But it’s not flyable right now 
I’m either gonna wait here, or make my way to Lone Pine to wait it out for better flying conditions. Now that I’m in the High Sierra, it’s not logical or efficient to keep hiking big sections. You could spend 10-14 days hiking to Mt Tom from here, or just 3 hours flying time from your magic backpack.

Uh, yeah. I think I’ll wait for the weather to get flyable.

May 8

Not even 8:30 yet, and the cumulus clouds are a poppin’!

Lone Pine Peak, with Whitney in the back right-

At over 14,500 feet, Mt Whitney is the highest peak in the range. And I’m well below it!-

Scary looking clouds above Williamson and Tyndall, indicating high winds aloft-

Starting to cloud in and snow-

At least it is coming down as light snow and not rain. But somehow there are still big thermals-

Almost to Mammoth Lakes, getting low as I pass McGee-

May 8

Hell yes! I just cranked out a 90 mile flight from Walt’s Point all the way to the Manmoth Lakes area, landing behind the Green Church hot springs!
It was one of my most difficult flights to date- big headwind, nasty strong thermals, snow storms, OD’ing clouds filling 90% of the sky, and only a Sonic vario. Dang, I needed that!I’ll be hanging with friends in Mammoth this evening most likely, unless I decide to walk back to the McGee launch. The LM5 absolutely kicks ass! The R11 would of been a handful in these conditions.

May 8

Sweet cloud flying today, here’s what the LZ looked like after flying Walts to Green Church (90 miles)

 

If any Mammoth Lakes friends would like to meet up for coffee, I’m headed to the Looney Bean in about an hour.Good to be back!

I noticed on my LM5 glider when it arrived that it didn’t have any ‘Badger Bars’ or rear riser hand loops for flying on speed bar. So yesterday Preston and I tinkered on it, and came up with these. Only cost me about 90 cents to make, not bad!This will give me better control and performance while on bar.

Now it’s all smiles and resting for another two days- the weather has crapped out yet again. No worries, it’s looking better on Monday. I’m planning on hiking up to Minaret Vista and finding somewhere to launch once it’s good again. Man I love it out here….

-Dave

May 10th

FINAL UPDATE FROM THE FIELD

The trip has been completed- I have arrived at the end of the Northern Sierra after 510 miles (820 km’s) of solo adventure!

What an amazing time I have had along the way. Big thermals, demanding flights, steep hikes, heavy pack, sketchy conditions; all were encountered on this south-to-north traverse of California and the High Sierra. I started out from the beach at Ventura, California, on the 19th of April and traveled alone and unsupported to my destination 30 days later, up at the northern end of the Sierra in Verdi, Nevada. I travelled 510 straight line miles to arrive there, with 55% of that distance covered by flying my Ozone LM5 paraglider, and the other 45% by hiking my ass off through the rough and remote terrain.

I am extremely happy to have completed the complete traverse of the Sierra Nevada by vol biv flying, and extending it even further by starting on the Pacific Ocean down in Southern California. It was the first solo and first unsupported traverse of the range, it was a great adventure for me. It was much harder going solo and unsupported instead of having a chase car or using help for re-supplies and logistics. Having no support or assistance forced me to carry more supplies than I wanted, and to make safe conservative decisions while out there. It also created a blank canvas to create whatever route and adventure that I wanted. Pure freedom.

The first third of the adventure was mostly hiking, with a few short flights thrown in. It was unusually bad weather for the first half of my trip, with very few opportunities to fly. Once I arrived on the northern Mojave Peaks and eventually the Southern Sierra, I was rewarded with decent weather and made most of the remaining progress by air. All in all, I was very happy to have flown more than 55% of the distance, otherwise it would have been more walking than I would have been happy with. If another party were to repeat the entire route in say, late Spring or early Summer, I’m sure you would be able to fly over 75%+ of the route without too much trouble. That is, if your up to taking on the big conditions of the Sierra at that time of the year!

I had some very ‘spicy’ times up there when the conditions proved to be challenging. The LM5 glider just plowed right on through most of it, only getting my feathers ruffled a few times. One thing about flying in the Sierra is that it is usually big, strong conditions with plenty of turbulence associated with the lift. Our prevailing wind is from the west, creating large helpings of nasty rotor most afternoons since we are flying on the lee side to the east of the crest. Welcome to paragliding heaven, just be aware of what you are getting into.

I had originally intended to go about 45 more miles north to Honey Lake, but upon summiting the Mt Rose massif and looking north over the last few peaks, it was obvious that they were much smaller and more heavily forested than the peaks I had just come from. The last of the big peaks had been crossed, the trip was over. I hiked down to goal at Interstae 80 and called it good.

Now I’m gearing up for another big adventure starting in two weeks- a solo vol biv traverse from one side of the Alps to the other, and back. Life is good.

I want to thank my sponsors, they really helped out by supporting the trip. Big thanks go out to:

Ozone Paragliders

Patagonia Clothing

Black Diamond

High Adventure 

Asolo

I will be creating a video of the trip, stay tuned as I’ll try to get it posted before I head to Europe.

-Dave Turner

May 21st, 2014

Here are my updates from the field as it happened, from where I last left off in Mammoth Lakes-

May 11th-

Hike and fly high Sierra. — with Dave Turner.

Getting some miles in, trying to put Mammoth Mountain behind me-

 

Very stable blue sky out here, we just bombed out. Huntley came up with me today, but we just struck out. I’m gonna hustle up to another peak and try again it looks like.

Wow, last night was cold! I’m not sure if there was an inversion holding down the cold air in this high cirque I’m camped in or what, but last night was considerably colder than any night of the trip so far.

I awoke to very low temps around 3 am and could not go back to sleep. By 4 am I couldn’t take it anymore, and built a raging fire right next to me. It definitely warmed things up! But since I fell asleep at nearly 8:30 last night due to a lazy afternoon, I couldn’t get back to sleep as I was already well rested.

I am looking forward to climbing this next peak and getting back in the air today! I’m fully addicted to this sport like a drug, and need my fix for the day. Hopefully there is a big fat hit of some chronic flying up there today! Ha!

It’s looking kind of crappy up here on the summit again for flying conditions, but the views are great. It’s not only high pressure again, but bullet blue sky, weak lapse rate, and a weak east wind. Perfect for sled rides and speed flying, but not vol biv.

But you know I’m gonna fly anyway and make the best of it! With any luck I’ll land in June Lake or just past. With good luck who knows, it could turn out to be an unexpected XC day. Fingers crossed.

Time to throw some nylon in the air!

From the hike-

May 13th-

Crushed it, another 50 mile flight! Woo-hoo!

I launched from around the Ski Resort at June Lake, and just landed at Highway 108, aka Sonora Pass. Such a nice flight, getting to fly over the high snowy peaks and not have to hike them! Bam. How the tables can turn.

I’m quite close to Lake Tahoe now, and there just happens to be a nice peak with a launch-able summit right above me….

Today’s flight was great. It started off fairly difficult, with light lift up to only 11-12,000 feet. As I flew over the community of June Lake, it started to seem like it might be a decent day for distance as long as the north wind did not increase too much.

 

Looking towards June Lake, the ski resort on the right-

 

Looking west towards the Ritter/Banner Range-

 

I made my way over Mount Wood, Parker Peak, and Mt Dana. I could see into Tuolumne Meadows and all of the rounded domes of the high country. Awesome. As I passed over Tioga Pass, I got forced out front to Bazooka Ridge because of the low ceiling. I couldn’t pass behind Lee Vining Peak, because I couldn’t get over it and had to go around.

Looking through the gap at Tuolumne Meadows, Mt Dana on the right-

I cruised over Lundy Canyon and then Copper Mountain- where I could see the Tahoe guys’ truck going back up to launch for another go. Mitch and them got to fly, but I’m not sure if they had any good flights.

 

Here is a shot of an F-16 Falcon jet zipping past, well below me. Click on the pic to enlarge, he is in the bottom left of the image with his shadow on the small snowfield-

 

Once I passed Copper, the climbs became stronger and higher. It felt like I sped up a bit, and I made progress north towards Tahoe.

Lundy Canyon-

I approached Highway 108 and the Sonora Pass but started getting low past Mt Emma. I could see the peaks lining Lake Tahoe, but it was still about 50(?) miles away. The north wind was kicking in and putting a halt to the days flying. I landed at highway 108.

Since landing, I’ve already hiked up almost to the next launch- Little Cannon. I hope tomorrow has good conditions, I’m loving this non-stormy weather!

Here are some pics from the day-

Ready for takeoff! Huntley Badger has hiked up with me this morning, and the day is looking good. The cycles are building and hopes are high. Good times up here on Little Cannon Peak.

Oouuugghh!

Sweet flight- I made it all the way to Minden, Nevada, which is next to Lake Tahoe!! Yes!

Huntley Badger launched with me, but I think he might of had to top land in no mans land- I lost sight of him shortly after launching. (turns out he made it to Markleeville)

Looking down at Huntley (bottom left) and out at the snowy peaks-

 

Committing to the deep line-

 

‘No man’s land’-

 

Land here and it’s a two day hike out-

 

Or keep going and land somewhere nice-

 

Great flying conditions to start with, but another strong NE shut me down once I got to Nevada. All good though, I’m close to the Kingsbury Grade launch, I’ll be there for tomorrow’s flight most likely. But there are some nice peaks directly above me here in case I don’t want to hike (likely).

On a more serious note- I had a full speed frontal today, and got the risers twisted up. Bad. About ten twists were between me and the wing as we bucked around for probably 90 seconds and about 3,000 vertical feet. It was the worst cascade I’ve had so far, but I just kept calm and kicked and forced the twists out. I was pulling on my brakes so hard at times to stop myself from going in the wing that I broke the sheath of the brake line.

I didn’t want to throw my reserve over the big snowy peaks again, so I just waited for the twists to come out- for a long time. Once it did come out, it was super cravatted on both sides, almost five more full stalls to get it out. Holy shit, god damn.

I was about 800 feet over the top of the ridge when it all came back, and I finished the second half of my flight like nothing happened.

Fun times in the Sierra- be ready, it’ll get ya!

Mr. HiKe and Fly Turner. Northern Sierra.

Damn, just bombed out. Gonna hustle up and give it another go.

 May 15th-

All right! Made it past Kingsbury Grade before the wind became too strong. Got some rotor action again, flying close to the crest Some stalls and spins was what I was rewarded with! And yes, this time I got it on video.

Launching from bushy hillside-

Trying to hide in the lee of the eastern escarpment to be below the worst of the rotor from the west-

Getting that rotor from the west anyways-

It can’t make up it’s mind which way it wants to go!-

Gliding past South Lake Tahoe on my way to Genoa, Nevada-

Genoa LZ-

It’s been nice these last few days of flying, looks like bad weather is coming though. Almost no hiking through this section-

A short clip of some turbulence while making a solo vol biv flight across California and the High Sierra. This is on the LM5 paraglider by Ozone, great wing to take turbulence on!

Today was a no-fly day because of the strong west wind. It started up around 10 this morning, and is still pumping hard.

I hiked up from where I landed yesterday in Genoa, up to Spooner Summit to where I’m at now. I’ll descend down to Lake Tahoe in the morning, and head up towards Incline Village and Mount Rose. I could of hiked faster by staying in the flat Carson Valley, but it’s not a very nice place compared to Tahoe. So I hiked back up over the crest, and here I am.

 

Anyone in the Incline Village Lake Tahoe area want to meet up for lunch?? Or any recommendations for a good restaurant with big, tasty portions?

Looks like I’ll get there just after noon or so, as long as I stop sipping coffee and get my ass up and start hiking this morning!

Even photos can’t capture how beautiful the Sierra is, but here’s a few pics of Lake Tahoe anyway-

With no food or water in the pack, it sure feels lighter!

All right!- I’m already past North Lake Tahoe and partway up Mt Rose this morning. I’m headed up towards the summit to make it through the high pass between Rose and Mt Houghton, while on my way to the Peavine/Verdi area. From there I hope for some better weather so I can get back in the air and keep pushing north.

Hiking along Lake Tahoe has been beautiful. I was not only rewarded with amazing vistas, but I was also lucky enough to have lunch at T’s Grill with Mitch Neary and Corbin Usinger. After that, CorbDawg and I went to the lake to soak our feet and catch up on standard Monkey business.

After a second helping of tri-tip steak from T’s in the afternoon, I said goodbye to Corb and hiked up out of town after stocking up at the Raleys.

Now I’m sipping coffee and bumping the shit out of some hip hop while bivied at the base of a small sport climbing crag- Trippy Rock. And yes- it’s all trippy up here!

A few more pics from yesterday-

Goodbye Lake Tahoe!

Overlooking the scenic Truckee Valley-

I’m trying to find a launch to glide down to Interstate 80 right now, but it’s extremely bushy and full of trees. Also, there is a big forest fire (!) immediately to my east, and I’m totally getting smoked out in a bad way.

Also, I’m going to maybe re-think where this trip will end, the peaks in front of me are much smaller, forested, and spaced apart. I always knew I-80 was the northern end of the big peaks of the Sierra, I’ll make the decision today where my finish line will be.

Smokey times up here, and getting worse-

Well I was hoping to land in goal today at the highway instead of walking, but a big forest fire to my east has closed down the airspace I’m in. Either way, I’m totally psyched to be on my last two hours of this incredible journey.

It has been almost exactly 500 miles (800km) of straight line travel by only foot or paraglider. I started out from the beach in Ventura, and have had the time of my life.

I had wanted to travel the last few miles north to Honey Lake, but the peaks that lead there do not look anything like ‘Sierra’ peaks- they are low and forested. Heading for Interstate 80 now, will be arriving in Verdi, Nevada, for GOAL!!!!! Hell yes!!

Anyone driving from the Reno/north Lake Tahoe area headed towards Sacramento or the Bay Area today? I’m looking for a ride that way from Verdi around noon or so.

Waking up and not having to hike anywhere or fly of something high,
definitely feels weird. As soon as I woke up this morning, my mind was all ready to hustle up the peak and fly off.Two weeks until it’s back on in Euro-landia; gives me time to rest my feet from this last adventure:

This trip was excellent. It showed that you do not need to travel half way around the world to find big adventures, sometimes they are waiting for you in your own backyard. I hope that more people take up the exciting sport of vol biv flying, but be careful out there. This game is for real, and it can bite. Make sure you bring your ‘A’ game when you come to the Sierra- she has teeth!!

I am headed to Europe in two weeks from now for another big solo vol biv trip, details can be found here. It’s going to be another great adventure, I hope you guys follow along on that one as well. I will be updating my website and facebook as I go, hoping for another great outcome.