Volume 30

Another new journal volume, number 30, orange this time, as it's time to leave the blues behind. Before I get into today's interesting events, I'll review the important elements of my life, or those things that are foremost in my consciousness these days.

Though I am ready, I think, to leave the blues behind, I must admit that thoughts of Meredith; what might have been, what I was blind to, and my simultaneous love for her and resentment over the way she treated me, as well as the disbelief and wonderment, all occupy my mind and heart each day still. I still wish I could have her back, even though from some perspectives we seem ill-suited for one another. But she touched my soul deeply, and I'm still filled with longing for her love, and the hope and desire of having her back. A hopeless romantic dream I know, but one which still persists and captures my imagination.

Trying to fill the vacuum that she left in my life, I recently placed an ad in the Personals section of the Press Democrat. In the ad I said I was a hang glider pilot who likes to go to the mountains every weekend. As a result, I've met Carrie and "C" (Candi) so far, neither of whom are quite what I was looking for, but both of whom seemed to establish a rapport with me, and may become friends. Also Ann, with whom I also established good rapport on the telephone, is a possibility. And there's one other, name still unknown, whom I tried to call this evening. And there may still be more responses, who knows.

This puts me in a new and different position, more familiar to women, of choosing between various possibilities, rather than assertively going after one at a time. It may require some delicate balance.

Then of course, there is hang gliding, my true "mistress" these past five years, which gives my passion an outlet, except when the weather is non-cooperative. Yesterday's exciting flight over Mt. St. Helena, as well as three three-hour flights so far this Spring have helped me to come alive again, and I look forward to a good summer of flying with good friends.

Speaking of good friends, there's Mary, who's been very good to me during hard emotional times. She's a jewel of a person, one I feel I can be totally myself with, which I never felt with Meredith (though I hoped we'd get that close eventually), and whose forthcoming marriage to Dennis does give me slight twinges of losing a good thing, though I don't expect to ever lose her as a friend. Given another chance, I think I might even marry her, although we get along better apart than we did when we were together.

My job still lacks much excitement for me, but remains a good provider, and I'm relatively content with what I'm doing there. I'd still prefer to work fewer hours, but that doesn't seem a possibility.

So all in all, though still sad over Meredith part of the time, I feel things are on the upward path, and I again feel some contentment and happiness in my life. Also I've learned a great deal about myself during my time in the Underworld, and still have more to learn.

My lifestyle has changed also. I now arise at 6:10 AM each morning after awakening around 5 AM. Then I write in my journal, and have time to read and reflect before going to work. And I go running 3-6 miles, two or three times per week, and am now in training for the "Run for the Roses" on the 21st of this month.

Now to get back to the present and my interesting day. Today is Mother's Day, and I spent it with my stepmother, Alice, or Alicia, as she now calls herself, and her man, Jim, a very nice fellow of 52, at a State Park (Stillwater Cove) on the Coast. I took her some roses from the yard for the occasion and she was touched.

It was a very pleasant visit...

Monday, May 9, 1983 - 7:11 AM

Another clear sparkling sunny morning. Continuing with yesterday's visit to Alice and Jim, it's hard to sum up what we talked about, but mostly it was about life, our experiences, and our thoughts about it and its meaning.

They talked of Mexico, where the point of view is so different. The Mexicans never discipline their kids, she said, so they do what they will and get hurt, learning from Mother Nature in her more cruel way sometimes. They don't take responsibility, seeing everything as "the way things are" or "God's will" and unchangeable, so the endless cycles of poverty and lack of concern continue.

Alice's house is in the Mexican section of San Miguel de Allende, on a hill, but the street is always littered with trash until Alice organizes the neighborhood kids to pick things up every once in a while. It should be interesting to meditate on the connection between discipline or freedom and achievement. There obviously needs to be a balance. Love and concern must also be important factors.

Anyway, Alice said that Jim doesn't like it there, and she's had a long enough exile also, so they want to find a place to live back in the U.S., and they can't see going back East, and are touched by the beauty of this area.

I had coffee, and later lunch with them, and then we went to the Timber Cove Lodge for dessert and coffee. Then back to the camp to talk and walk some more, 'til I finally left around 5 PM, after having arrived around 10:20 AM. So we covered a lot, reestablished a good rapport.

Now it's almost time to go to work.

6:27 PM

Just got back from running. Did just under six miles with three walks, but quit when my left foot began to tighten up. I'm still not in great shape.

Tuesday, May 10, 1983 - 7:06 AM

Another clear Spring morning. Last evening I took a bath, then Mary came over, and we went to Sizzler for dinner, then read and watched some TV until she left around 9:30 PM.

Went to bed before ten. Slept not really well, finding myself awake before five.

I may invite Carrie to go to Elk this weekend, and maybe see her sooner too.

Oh yes, I got a nice letter from Chris, telling about his life at Cornell these days, and about his Spring vacation trip to California and Yosemite.

Thursday, May 12, 1983 - 9:56 PM

Won't have time to write tomorrow morning, as I have to meet George at work at 6:30 AM for our trip to Santa Clara.

After work I called Carrie. I told her I'd decided to just go up for the day on Saturday, asked if she'd like to go with me. She said, "I'd love to," so that made me feel better. Anyway, she'll call me when she gets home tomorrow night, and we'll finalize our plans.

Tonight I went to K-Mart and bought the Canon Sureshot camera I'd been considering for awhile, and also bought a set of add-on lenses for it, for $185 altogether. Seems like it'll be ideal for taking up in the hang glider, but I'll have to make some modifications first, such as velchro on the back. But I want to check it out this weekend first before I do anything to it in case there are any problems and I'd have to return it.

Friday, May 13, 1983 - 6:14 AM

This is the only Friday the 13th of 1983, sometimes an auspicious day for me. Also, yesterday was the 13th anniversary of my father's death, which I thought about but forgot to mention.

Saturday, May 14, 1983 - 7:30 AM

Got calls last night from Mike Kunitani and James about going to Elk Mountain. Also called Mel.

Called Carrie. She'll call and come up here between 8:30 and 9 PM.

Today's a sunny day with blue sky.

Sunday, May 15, 1983 - 7:44 AM

Another sunny blue sky day. I should be up at Elk, but came home because Carrie couldn't stay overnight, had her animals to take care of. But I have some things to do.

Had a nice day yesterday. Carrie arrived at nine and we left for Elk Mountain, had a nice drive up on a pretty day, the hills still green from all the rain, and lots of wildflowers in bloom.

Stopped in Cloverdale for some breakfast for her, and coffee for both of us. Got to Elk around 11:30, finding no one waiting to go up. But then we saw Len Smith coming out to land, so watched him, then helped him fold up his glider to take him back up for another flight. And while doing that, Terry from Sacramento, and Tom arrived, so we took them up the mountain also.

Judi Neilsen gets ready to launch

On top were many gliders, with everyone waiting for better cycles up the NW launch. Said "Hi" to and introduced Carrie to lots of friends, including: James, Stretch, Anne, Roy, Judi Nielson, Mel, Lynne, Art, Ken, Ron, Alice, Jon James, Mike Kunitani, and more.

Then I got out my new camera and took a bunch of pictures. And so did Carrie, with her fancy Nikomat with big zoom lens.

Soon Roy and Stretch took off, found lift and thermals and climbed above the mountain, so many others followed, and I started setting up my glider after taking some more pictures.

Then it got quite windy, blowing 20 to 25 in the launch slots, so people started waiting, but I got set up and eventually carried up to the lower competition slot. Had a good launch, soon climbed up with the others, looking for thermals in the West bowl, and finding some.

Finally there were just a few of us left; Mel, Ken, Art, and a couple of others, so after about two hours I decided to head out.

Anne sets up a landing on her Comet at Elk

It was all sink, crabbing sideways in the stiff NW wind to the landing area, then setting up on the east side of the creek for a landing toward the big trees, which were creating lots of turbulence and a severe gradient. But I kept it flying fast and made a very good landing on my feet. Stretch said it was one of my best. Jon may have filmed it, I hope.

So I had a beer, greeted Carrie, who'd had a good drive down, and folded up my glider.

Awhile later, Art had a rough crosswind landing, hit hard, hurt himself, may have injured his back, though was able to walk off after ten minutes or so. Mike broke a downtube on his landing, borrowed my extra one, and Ron landed in the creek.

We said our good-byes and left for home around six, eating cheese and crackers on the way.

Now I'm going to go running, without breakfast, to test a morning simulation of next week's race.

11:05 AM

Ran up to the JC track to run my laps. Did 23 there, plus a half mile getting there, for 6 miles without stopping this time, and without getting sideaches, though I was breathing hard all the way and maintaining a fairly fast pace for me, doing it all in 48 minutes, I think. If I can stay in shape this week and be good with my eating habits, I should be able to finish the race okay.

Tuesday, May 17, 1983 - 6:54 AM

Went to the meeting last night at Jon's "country estate." Hank and Ernie were there when I got there. Ernie has moved out of his house, is living with his parents in Healdsburg, a sad situation. He can't afford a place of his own in spite of having a good job because he has to support his wife, who left him, and his kids, who are with her.

Also Charley Warren arrived later. He and Marcy also split up, and he sold his share of the restaurant. But now he says he'll have more time for flying.

Eventually around eight, we started the meeting, which dragged on too long over issues such as Mt. St. Helena, etc. Then Eric and William had some slides to show of their new coastal site at the lighthouse.

Finally we got to show Jon's movies, and some of Eric's, before I got to leave near eleven. Drank too much beer (four or five bottles) and ate too many chips. Home to bed.

8:11 PM

Made good progress at work today. Also called the newspaper to see if there were any more responses to my ad.

The person said I had "some," but I didn't ask how many, assumed more than one. But when I got there after work, they only had one for me. But it's a nice one, a poem from a girl named Jean in Healdsburg:

I have a yen
for adventuresome men;
Sport to share,
The air to dare;
We've places to go
and people to know;
Laughter to make,
of joy to partake.
Life has no boundaries,
or limits to hold us;
Beauty and truth and love
will enfold us.

A very nice poem. I tried to call her but a roommate (?) answered, said she wasn't home, was there a message?

I said I'd call back, said I was "the hang glider pilot."

Wednesday, May 18, 1983 - 7:13 AM

Here it is the fourth anniversary of our first flights at Hull Mountain (Mel's and mine), and the opening of a wonderful new world.

Today's sunny but with some high clouds, and much snow still on top of Hull.

Saturday, May 21, 1983 - 7:02 AM

It's foggy on the morning of the race. I got a good night's sleep and feel pretty good, hope I can go the distance at a respectable pace.

Monday, May 23, 1983 - 7:21 AM

Had a full and pleasant weekend. Drove to the Veterans Building before eight on Saturday to get my number and get ready for the race. It was foggy and a bit chilly. There were a lot of entrants, but no one I knew, though I think I saw Alyce.

There was a lot of standing around, warm-ups, and stretches, 'til finally it was time to line up for the start. They had signs posted; 5 1/2, 6, 6 1/2, 7, 7 1/2, 8, etc., for people to line up by, based on their previous finish times. I got in the 7 1/2 section, which I thought was better than I could do.

Finally it was start time, and off we went, with a lot of people running fast at first. I took it easy, paced myself. Saw Johnny, the Chinese guy who also works at the County, ran with him for a few minutes, let him go ahead, but later passed him and left him far behind.

Kept a good pace and felt pretty good for the whole race. I was at 36 minutes at the five mile mark, and finished in 45 minutes, 41 seconds for a pace of 7.3 minutes per mile, much faster than I thought I could do. So I was satisfied to have finished, and to have done better than I thought I could do.

Didn't see anyone I knew after the race, so had some juice, picked up my T-shirt, and walked back to the Veteran's Building to get my car. Saw Diane from work, who was waiting for the parade.

Came on home, took a hot bath, then lay down for a nap.

12:10 Noon - Continuing...

Took an extra half hour at lunch today to drop off my film and continue with this.

On Sunday, Carrie and I went out to breakfast at Elmer's, then to my house, loaded the glider, gear, and refreshments and were on the road by 9:30 or so.

It was foggy until we got to the other side of Cloverdale, then it was clear and sunny. We saw Fred's truck with glider in Upper Lake, so waited for him (and Susan and kids) at the campground.

Also there were Steve Perry, Chris, and a couple of others waiting. So we all loaded on Fred's truck, and Carrie decided to stay down with Susan and wade in the creek. She had a nice time.

On top were Holly, Tim, and Barry, and some others I didn't know. They were waiting, although one guy had been scratching for an hour. No one else from Sonoma Wings was there. Others had gone to Hull or hadn't come at all.

I got set up, and by then people were getting high, so I launched with my camera at 1:58. Caught a good thermal over the knoll and got up, eventually getting to the top of the stack at 6000'.

Rich and Erin arrived, and soon launched, so I flew with Rich, drifting back toward Hull in high thermals much of the time, and took some good photos of him, I think. We got to 7000' at times.

Eventually Roy, Anne, and Stretch arrived from Hull and called on the radio. They'd had some good flights there too. Bones and Sharol were also over there. But Roy's glider blew over and got a hole punched in it.

Anyway, as they were setting up, I got flushed down, and was scratching at launch and below, but fortunately found a thermal near the knoll, which I stuck with, and it got stronger, eventually taking me back up to 7000' again.

Soon Stretch launched and got up, Anne launched but couldn't find a thermal to get up in, and scratched for a long time. Roy launched and got up too.

I was getting tired, had already been flying for three hours, so headed for Pitney with Rich. He made it all the way to the point, but I turned back sooner, headed for the landing area and circled down.

It was a no wind landing toward the south. My approach was okay, but I got going too fast, and when I flared, didn't stop, so nosed in hard. But only had a slight bend in a downtube, and my camera stayed attached to the Velcro on my chest, so that was a good test. Had three hours and seventeen minutes.

Had a beer and a sandwich with Carrie, talked to others, and we finally got on the road at 6:30. Made it back in record time, passing Steele Lane at 8:10 (1 hour, 40 minutes), and to Carrie's by 8:20.

Friday, May 27, 1983 - 7:09 AM

Another foggy morning, as usual these days. Here it is the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, and I'm at a loss as to where, if anywhere, to fly. Hull will probably be too crowded, and the launch too iffy. Elk will be too crowded to camp anyway, and Usal probably not soarable and too foggy, so I probably won't go anywhere except maybe for a day at Elk.

Saturday, May 28, 1983 - 9:08 AM

And yet another foggy morning, as it has been since last Saturday, though usually sunny by late morning. Here it is Memorial Day Weekend and I'm not going anywhere, at least not yet. I may go flying for the day at Goat Rock, or possibly to Elk Mountain tomorrow.

I'm in something of a melancholy mood, thinking of Meredith again, missing her, wondering about her.

May do some laundry today or fly at Goat Rock.

Sunday, May 29, 1983 - 10:34 AM

We made plans to go to Goat Rock today. Carrie's going to call when she's ready.

Mary called awhile ago, got angry at me for awhile because I won't take her tandem at Goat Rock, is frustrated over not getting very far with her flying. We talked it out pretty well though.

Monday, May 30, 1983 - Memorial Day - 8:55 AM

A bright sunny morning for a change after all that fog. And yesterday got bright and sunny also after a foggy cloudy morning.

Carrie finally called around 10:30 and came up around noon to go to Goat Rock with me. She brought Lindsay, her big black female dog, and we headed on out.

The traffic was heavy, especially heading into Guerneville, but we avoided most of this (about 100 cars) by taking a back road around. It was very windy out by Duncans Mills, looked like it might be blown out, but we got there to find Ernie set up and getting ready, with a breeze of about 18 or so. So I started setting up also.

Ernie launched, went up high, made a few passes over the bowl then headed down to the other end. But a few minutes later when he tried to get back, he started sinking in turbulence behind the rock and turned back down, wasn't able to get back up in the lift and had to set up a landing on the beach, for a short flight.

Mel and Lynne arrived as I was ready to launch, so they helped me carry over to the bluff. The wind had picked up to 20 to 25 by now, and when they released, I went straight up, where it was blowing 25 to 35 so that I could hardly penetrate forward.

I took only a couple of photos as I couldn't face anywhere but directly into the wind. Gradually felt my way up and down the bowl and forward in the lift zone, but worried that the wind would pick up even stronger.

Mel decided not to test fly his Fledge in such strong conditions, a wise choice.

Finally, after a half hour, I decided to head out and land. As there were lots of people on the beach, I was nervous, but it was easier than I thought with the strong smooth wind, as I was able to soar far down, getting lift off the dunes and staying fifty feet up over the beach, gradually moving north towards a clear space, backing up by slowing down, passing slowly over picnickers below, finally bringing it down slowly in a clear patch, doing a nice landing on my feet, to everyone's delight. Then I was able to wire walk the glider up the dunes with Dan's (Ernie's brother) help.

Carrie took a walk down the beach to look at the seals and pups while I folded up my glider behind the dunes, then I walked down to meet her. The wind was strong and quite northy by now.

So soon we headed back, going down the coast and then inland on Coleman Valley Road. By the time we got to my house, we were both feeling very tired. I felt like just collapsing. We put Lindsay in the back yard and relaxed for a little while before she left for home.

Slept only fair last night. Had a headache part of the night, and my eyes were tired. But I feel pretty good by now.

Tuesday, June 2, 1983 - 8:38 PM

Earlier I talked to Hank and Jon, who are both going to Hull Mountain this weekend, so I guess I will too. Jon was there last weekend, got to fly, didn't get over the top of the mountain, but had decent flights.

Friday, June 3, 1983 - 6:56 AM

Decided to go to Hull Mountain this weekend, without Carrie, to give myself the time alone, to be by myself with myself.

9:23 PM

Tonight I went shopping, did my laundry, and have been getting ready to go to Hull Mountain tomorrow. Also I've been calling friends, including Ivan, James, Hank, and Bones this afternoon, answered by Sharol, and also Mike Cate tonight.

Mike told me he's going to Dillon Beach occasionally, has thirty or more flights, but hasn't got his Hang-1 yet. Also, he said, Marty got a horse, and he ran in the Bay to Breakers race. He wants to come up to Hull with me some weekend soon.

Saturday, June 4, 1983 - 7:33 AM

Getting my gear together on a sunny morning to head for Hull Mountain, where there will be a bunch of friends.

Monday, June 6, 1983 - 7:02 AM

It's a sunny Monday morning and it's expected to get quite hot today. I'm feeling better in spirit after an eventful weekend at Hull Mountain.

It was nice just being back there again. I left by myself around 8:30 Saturday morning but was there before 10:30 I think. Bones and Sharol, Stretch, Anne, and Roy, Jon, and James were already there, and soon Mike and Dallas, then Ivan arrived.

We'd loaded four gliders on the Scout before Ivan arrived, so we decided to start up the mountain rather than transfer all to his truck (which could have been a good idea in retrospect), and headed up.

We could get past timberline, but then were blocked by a 4 to 6 foot snow bank across the road below lower launch. But there was a launchable spot there below the road. So we all laid our gliders out along the road and began setting up, with Roy launching first, heading towards Red Spot and getting a thermal, and circling up over the mountain beneath some fast developing cumulus clouds.

Dallas wanted to drive down soon. Since she was the only driver, I was worried about the last person getting launched, and said so, but she said, "I sympathize, but that's not the way I planned to spend my day."

But, fortunately, another truck came up with a glider and driver, Carl and John from Oakland.

Anyway, I had my glider all set up when she started to leave, but then I heard a loud "Bang!", from the Scout. I went over, saw liquid dripping from the fender, raised the hood and found that the battery had exploded.

So I decided I'd better fold up my glider, get the Scout down the mountain, and see if I could get a new battery. So I folded up my glider and loaded it onto the Scout.

The Scout even ran for a few minutes once I jump started it, but then it quit and I coasted all the way down to the uphill section, where I was stuck, and had to wait for everyone to get launched and the truck to come down, which was an hour and a half or two hours.

In the meantime, I listened to my radio, hearing all the communications between Stretch, Anne, and James (who'd just gotten radios), and Roy, Mike, Jon, and others skying out, getting to ten and eleven thousand feet.

Finally John, Carl's driver, came down, and fortunately, I still had the tow rope that Mel used to tow me home with last year, and John towed me past the upgrade, then I coasted down the rest of the way.

Curt Weber had also started up to get me, and he met us just past the upgrade. He towed me into camp, then drove me to Ukiah to get a new battery, getting us to Sears by 4:30, and finding them (Diehard batteries) on sale.

On the way back, Curt and I had a good talk about Meredith, Joan (his ex-wife), and relationships and heartbreak, and he seemed to feel much like I do, very sympathetic. Joan's remarried now, to a guy with a six year old child.

Back at camp, everyone had landed, except they had gone to pick up Jon from Squaw Valley. He'd headed for the Central Valley, but ran into a hail storm and sink and headed back low, just making it over the ridge to Squaw Valley.

And Sharol was missing. No one knew where she'd gone and she hadn't taken her radio, so Bones was worried, had notified the Sheriff, and drove back up the mountain to get a better view of the area, while Hank and Jon walked up the creekbed. Bones had already driven to that area.

But finally around eight, a truck pulled in with Sharol and her glider. She'd flown to the south end of Potter Valley, the longest flight from Hull Mountain so far.

We all chided her for not taking her radio, and made her promise to in the future, but also were impressed by her flight. So it ended well and we spent a pleasant evening around the fire after dinner.

I went to bed in my tent after eleven, but couldn't sleep. Bones and Sharol stayed up talking until after midnight. Later, water was dripping on me from dew or condensation, until I shifted my bedding. May have slept a couple of hours at most.

Got up at seven and went running around the airfield for twenty minutes or so, then went swimming in the lake. Felt very much refreshed, and much better in spirit, excited by the prospects of flying on Sunday.

Oh yes, I'd found that the Scout's starter was also shot, burnt out, would only grind slowly. I think what happened is that Dallas hadn't released the key from the starter position once it started, and the sparks from the fried starter motor had ignited the battery fumes.

A bummer, but now behind me, except for having the starter replaced. I'm also going to replace that ignition switch, as it has a tendency to stick in the starter position, must be moved back to normal rather than just releasing it.

Other people, like James, Ivan, Anne, and Stretch, also said they'd go running with me, so that may become a Sunday morning regular thing.

More later, got to leave for work.

12:01 Noon

Continuing...

I'm taking an extra half hour (comp time) at lunch to catch up on this.

I talked to Carl and John in the main camp area, asked if they'd swing by to take up some of our gliders when they headed up. They said "Sure."

So we went up the mountain around 10:30 in their truck; Jon, Ivan, Curt, Hank, and I, but found an east wind blowing, making our SW facing launch site below the road unusable for the time being, but I felt that as the valley warmed, thermals would start coming up.

We hiked up to the lower launch area just to look around. There were some huge snow drifts which still have to melt before we can get up there with a truck. Jon decided to carry his glider up there to a SE facing launch, and so did Curt. I decided to wait for things to shift and eventually set up my glider.

The others finally arrived also, having waited for Mike, and they set up too. Dallas left soon, and, unfortunately, this time she left with Dave Thor's harness and gear as well as Roy's down jacket, which they hadn't yet removed from the vehicle.

Anyway, Jon launched first, went out towards Red Spot, got a good thermal and climbed way up. But his repaired batten failed, so he was uncomfortable with it, and eventually headed out towards the lake with lots of altitude.

Stretch launched, got trashed, and got low before finally finding a thermal. Then others launched, as soon as we could, when it was launchable.

James got a good thermal and went right up. I got in line after Anne, but it was blowing down a lot by now, and both she and I had long waits for even marginal launch cycles.

I finally launched at 2:02 into a lull, after waiting through ten minutes of down air, got drilled for awhile, but headed over toward the ridge below Red Spot where Anne had found lift and gotten up.

Found marginal thermals, so scratched around, slowly gaining, then finally getting a good one, which took me above Red Spot and kept me climbing until I was over 10,500 feet. Then I flew over the top, took some pictures and flew around awhile, talking to others on the radio.

Some others had harder times. Mike was almost in the canyon before he found something and got way up. Ivan never did get up, and a few others had to wait on launch for an hour through bad launch conditions.

Flying with James, high above snow capped Hull Mountain

I flew around with James for awhile, got to my maximum altitude of 11,000'.

(ed. note: I took a good picture of James high over snow capped Hull Mountain, which I later blew up and gave to him. It turned out that he'd taken an equally good photo of me with similar background, and he blew it up for me. I still have it on my wall.)

Talked by CB to Mark Brady and others who were hoping to fly at Mt. St. John. They couldn't launch, however.

Finally the lift gave out on me, and I slipped down the mountain, decided to head out. Circled in light lift over the air strip, but eventually had to come out to the campground and land, just after Anne, for a flight of one hour and forty-five minutes.

Went swimming in the lake with Anne a little while later, which was refreshing. I was feeling pretty good again.

Folded up gliders, drank beer, said good-byes. Started to give Mike a ride to his cabin to get jumper cables, as the battery in his recently acquired Toyota Land Cruiser was dead. But we met Dallas in the Saab on the way, so he got out and went with her.

Headed on home, getting here around 8:30.

Tuesday, June 7, 1983 - 7:AM

Another hot night, and sunny morning today, with some high clouds. I'm still feeling in pretty good spirits and fairly energetic.

Mary stayed and watched TV until 10:30 while I worked on projects. Then I got her to push the Scout with Hummer so I could jump start it, then drive it to the service station, where it will be worked on today.

Saturday, June 11, 1983 - 7:36 AM

A beautiful sunny morning today, after a storm front moved through yesterday afternoon and evening. I'm feeling happy and eager to get going to Hull, even though there won't be very many of my friends there evidently.

Carrie will be going with me. We'll camp tonight and leave tomorrow morning, so we can get back for her staff party at Perry's.

Monday, June 13, 1983 - 6:56 AM

A beautiful sunny morning. Lots to catch up on. Foremost on my mind are two things. One, Steve Ross is dead. I found out yesterday. More about that. Two, I got a letter from Meredith. She may be coming up this week to get her dresser. More about that too. Coincidentally, both Steve and Meredith have the same birthday, July 25th.

Now let me review my weekend, which was pleasant, though not really what I'd expected.

Saturday morning I packed up my gear and glider, and waited for Carrie, who finally arrived around 9:25, and we left for Hull Mountain. We were both in pretty good spirits.

There were thousands of Harley-Davidson motorcycles on the road, all headed for Willits or Garberville for a dealer sponsored "run."

Got to Hull by noon. Everyone had already gone up the mountain. Talked to Mike by CB. He was the only one of the regulars there. In addition, there were Len, Doug, and Steve Little, from the club, plus some Bay Area people, including Carl and John, and Mike with the Pro-Air from Fort Funston.

Carrie and I had sandwiches, and I set up our tent before we headed on up. The snow had melted considerably but you still couldn't get to lower launch, although the others had carried their gliders up there.

Mike launched, got a little ways over before sinking out. Then Len and another glider also launched, then sunk out. Carrie and I took some pictures, then I went down to the road and set up my glider.

Gradually the north wind picked up, and people got flushed down the mountain.

I launched last, at 2:26, had a good launch, as the wind was coming up the bowl strongly, but then I was out into a rotor from lower launch, and sunk out fast. Found marginal lift at the Timberline bowl, then was off down the mountain past Red Spot, the lower knoll, and across the runway.

The wind was blowing out to the lake from the north, so I had to set up over the lake and land towards the trees, through some turbulence and wind shadows. Had a fair landing, but dropped onto my belly, pushing out. My flight was all of 17 minutes long.

After awhile I started a fire and we prepared to cook our dinner. It was quite windy though, and the fire was trying to leap free of the pit and go wild. Fire and wind, a dangerous combination. Cooked up our steak and peas, then Doug, Len and Steve did a dinner by committee.

We sat around the campfire 'til ten, then went to bed after a long chilly walk to the outhouses.

Slept pretty well, I think, 'til seven or so. At eight I got up and went for a run, around the airstrip, back past the target ranges, and back to camp, then for a refreshing dip in the lake.

Then Carrie got up, and we had a leisurely time making breakfast, though Len, Doug, and Steve shared their eggs with us too.

By ten, Hank and Jon arrived, then Carl and John came by to pick up people and gliders. Ron and Alice arrived a bit later, and Jon and Hank went up with them.

And finally Bones and Sharol arrived as we were about to leave, so we stayed and talked with them for awhile, finally left around 11:30. Made it back to my place by 1:30 PM.

Then Carrie left for her place, and I stayed to shower and clean up, would come down to her place when I was ready.

More later, time to get to work now.

12:13 Noon

Continuing...

Taking a long lunch to catch up here.

On the way to the staff party, Carrie asked how I was. I told her about the letter I'd gotten from Meredith, and that I may be somewhat preoccupied about that this week, but otherwise was feeling good with her.

Also I asked if she'd be interested in going to the hang gliding meeting tonight, and she said she would.

Tuesday, June 14, 1983 - 7:06 PM

I went to the Sonoma Wings meeting at Bones and Sharol's shop. Was the only one there, until Jon arrived, then others.

Carrie eventually arrived also, and I pretty much stayed with her, as she seems pretty shy at gatherings. We cooked burgers on a new barbecue, on which the bars were too far apart.

Had a boring meeting. Then we watched the Owens Valley film, which I'd seen before. After seeing it, I doubt if Carrie will want to go there. But we'll see.

It was 10:20 or so when the movie finished, so we said our good-byes and went home.

Today's foggy and a little chilly.

Thursday, June 16, 1983 - 6:36 AM

A nice day yesterday.

Waited for Carrie after work. Stretch called from Willits, asked if they could spend the night here on their way through, he to the airport and east to visit his daughter and parents, and Anne to visit folks and friends in San Diego, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. So I said sure.

Carrie arrived around 5:30 or so. We assembled her new bike pump and pumped up her tires, then headed off on our bike ride toward Howarth Park and Spring Lake, cutting through neighborhoods across town, to avoid main street traffic.

In the park, one of her derailleur cables broke, so I worked on fixing it for awhile, was finally able to make a temporary repair, so we could proceed around the lake, stopping to rest on the dam on the way back and look at the birds.

Then we rode to the Brass Ass for pizza, wine and beer. Afterwards, she offered to invite me to a meatloaf dinner soon in return, which I, of course, accepted.

Then home, stopping at Mary's on the way, but finding her not at home. Stretch and Anne had arrived when we got here around 9:20, so we all partied awhile in the living room, with Awk and Spanky too.

Mary called, so I invited her over too, and we all had a pleasant visit, 'til 10:30 or so, when Carrie said goodnight.

Finally to bed, with Stretch and Anne laying out their bedding and sleeping on the living room floor.

Friday, June 17, 1983 - 6 AM

The day began with a leisurely breakfast visit with Stretch and Anne, and Awk, who was full of himself and really loved my energy milkshake. I offered them what I had, but they would only have coffee. Anyway, I finally went to work, leaving them here.

More later.

12:19 Noon

Even though I got up at five this morning, after not sleeping very well, I've been feeling good, and energetic today. I feel released from the burden of Meredith now that she's taken the rest of her stuff and we got to express our feelings, though I've still been reflecting on that situation, and am looking forward to the prospects of a good relationship with Carrie, whom I like better all the time.

Today's a sunny bright day, not quite so hot as yesterday, which was in the 90's or more.

Saturday, June 18, 1983 - 8:26 AM

It's a beautiful sunny morning as I get ready for a trip to Usal with Carrie, as well as Mary and Dennis, to do our tandem flight.

Monday, June 20, 1983 - 7:08 AM

There's a lot of clouds, high and thick today, but the weekend was beautiful.

We didn't get on the road to Usal until 9:30 or so, but that didn't matter. Carrie had a lot of things to do before leaving. And Mary and Dennis arrived after I'd gone to pick up her glider, and they'd gone to Safeway for some steaks, etc.

We cruised on up, noticing indications of strong winds along the way. I'd called Roy to tell him we were going there, and when we arrived, there he was, high over the ridge on a beautiful soarable day.

So I set up my Comet, and a few spectators stopped to watch as Mary and I got ready for our tandem flight. We did our hang checks, then carried over to the bluff facing NW from the highest hill, with two spectators holding our wires, and Dennis and Carrie photographing.

We had a good wind coming up, so on "three" I had them release, and we ran hard, got a fine launch, then were picked up strongly and steadily as we came out over the main ridge, climbing 1000 feet and feeling jubilant.

Mary enjoying her tandem flight at Usal. Note reflection of surf below in her glasses.

Looking down at the launch area from over Usal ridge

Looking south from over Usal ridge

Over the LZ at Usal

Mary was ecstatic as soon as she got past her jitters of the first minute or so, as the ground faded away below us until the cars were just little squares far below, and the people were little dots. We got to 2000 feet, 1200 feet above our 800 foot launch, then just cruised around, getting the feel of it.

It took a lot more muscle to turn the Comet, and it was easy to stall the turns, or the turns would just get steeper and were harder to pull out of by high siding. But it was fun for us both, and we did some stalls, 360's, 180's and spirals, etc.

I gave the controls to Mary so she could fly it some, but it was so hard to maneuver that I'm not sure she got much of a feel for it. And I took some pictures with my camera.

Roy had already landed so we didn't have him to fly with, and he drove back down, after packing up his glider, to put out his windsock on the beach for us.

After an hour or so, Mary started feeling sick, as her knee-hanger harness was feeling uncomfortable, pressing her diaphragm, and without a stirrup she couldn't get forward in it to relieve the pressure, and she thought she was going to throw up.

So we flew around some more, planning our landing approach, and finally flying out over the ocean to lose some altitude, then coming in over the beach and along the ridge facing NW, crabbing in the wind, about ready to turn back.

But past a certain point, the bottom dropped out, so I had to do a quick 180, then head back into the wind for the landing, but we hit a low wind shadow, as we were on the back side of the spit, and dropped out for the last four feet rather suddenly, and I got a mouthful of sand as I swung through the control bar.

And, unfortunately, my camera got quite sandy too, and wouldn't work properly after we'd cleaned it later as best we could.

But we weren't hurt, were down safely, and hadn't bent anything, so were feeling very good about our first real tandem flight of about an hour and twenty minutes.

Roy had waited for us with his truck, so after we folded up the glider, he drove us back up. Then we put up our tent, after which Carrie and I drove back down to the beach, as she hadn't seen it yet. Dennis and Mary had gone for a walk.

Later we built a campfire, and eventually cooked the steaks, which we shared with Roy. They were delicious and we all felt very good after a great day. Sat around the campfire talking and drinking until everyone retired, and Carrie and I put out the fire and headed for our tent.

More later, time to go to work.

1:24 PM

I was so exhausted at work today that I took an extra long lunch break (11 until 2) to take a much needed nap (comp time). But I was awakened at 12:20 by Cici, calling to wish me a belated Happy Father's Day.

She's moved into her new house, but still doesn't have her permanent room, may find it out tomorrow. She got all A's this quarter, helping her grade point average which was already 3.5. She talked a little of her Summer plans, but doesn't have a job.

Now, back to the weekend at Usal...

Carrie and I slept fairly well until eight in the morning when I got up, started a fire, and heated up water for coffee. We ate a leisurely breakfast, I cooked eggs with meatloaf which was good.

Carrie and I took a walk back through the woods up to the big stump, looking at birds, deer, and flowers, and being affectionate. Then finally back to camp, as it was beginning to look like it would soon become soarable.

Roy had his glider set up (around noon), and I set mine up too. Carrie tried on Mary's harness and helmet, but the helmet was too small. I'd told her to think about going tandem herself, but she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Later, she said she would have done it. But the conditions seemed marginal, not as good as Saturday's, the wind not as strong, hardly coming up at all where we'd launched, and more northy.

In fact, Roy stood at launch for a long time waiting for even a small up cycle, but when he finally launched, he went around the ridge and then was picked up strongly.

So I launched by myself a few minutes later (not wanting to go tandem in such marginal conditions) and also climbed right up to 1900', a little lower than I'd been with Mary on Saturday. Followed Roy south to the next little ridge where we could get to 2300', then played all around, flying back and forth, trying to figure out the wind.

Did wingovers for awhile, circled my shadow over people below, went out to sea, chased an osprey, got low and then would climb up the ridge, several times.

Later I explored the area over the gulch, and found thermals, in which I circled, eventually getting to 3500' over the inner ridge, 1000' higher than on the coast.

Then I got into a strong NE wind layer up there, which I could barely penetrate. Also went to the north side of the gulch and played over the ridge there, finding marginal lift.

Finally, after three hours, Roy landed, so I followed him down. Carrie had gone down to the beach to wait for us there after Dennis and Mary had left for home.

This time I had a good landing, more on the seaward side, wished I'd gone there the previous day.

Was very tired, apologized to Carrie for making her wait so long. We folded up our gliders, drove back up, then put away our tent, packed up our gear and left by about 6:15 PM. Realized we'd be very late getting home.

Stopped at O'Hara's for dinner, where Roy already was, then cruised home fast, making it to my house by 10:05 (Left O'Hara's after seven), but were very tired and spaced. Said thanks and a warm goodnight to Carrie, put my gear away and went to bed.

Tuesday, June 21, 1983 - 7:07 AM

Yesterday I was exhausted all day, could hardly keep my eyes open at work. After work I was still exhausted.

Called Carrie and talked for a little while. She'd been full of energy all day. She'd had a nice weekend, but had gotten a bit peeved at being left all alone on Sunday while we were flying. And I apologized again for staying up so long.

Went grocery shopping. Had peanut butter and cereal for dinner. Tried to relax watching some news.

Mary came by after exercising. I took a bath. We talked. She likes Carrie. She was still high from her tandem flight, wants to practice turns now, said she'll go to Dillon Beach.

After she left, I watched the first half of Endless Love on TV, but turned it off when I could no longer find it believable, and went to bed at nine.

Didn't sleep very well, and awakened at 4 AM.

Friday, June 24, 1983 - 7 PM

A hot day. Pretty tired after work.

Taking it easy and planning for tomorrow's trip to Mt. St. Helena. This evening I talked to Ivan and Jon about tomorrow. Jon and James will be meeting here to ride over with me.

Saturday, June 25, 1983 - 6:52 AM

A clear nice morning for our Mt. St. Helena trip. But we have to leave here at 7:45, which is a little early, but Carrie agreed to be here by then and I hope she can make it. She called last night, still working on her project, was going to feed the animals, then go to bed.

I went to bed a little after ten. Earlier I'd worked on the Scout, making a muffler extension to get rid of the exhaust fumes that were being sucked into the back, and finding the problem that was causing the engine to miss: sparks jumping from the coil. I think I fixed that also, so the Scout should be running better now. Also I got air in the tires.

Slept well.

Sunday, June 26, 1983 - 9:21 PM

Home after a very nice day with Carrie at Angel Island for a bike ride. Tired and sunburned, but feeling good.

Yesterday morning James and Jon arrived around 7:25, but decided to go on out to the landing area to put up the windsock, as I had to wait for Carrie, who was about five minutes late.

That was just enough to make us late to the landing area, so that the others had left and we had to go on to the glider port, where we met them, then we threw my glider on top of seven others on Ken's truck for the ride up to the gate, as Roy, coming from the other direction, was waiting there.

So Carrie and I rode up in the back of Ken's truck. Also there were Ivan and Patti, Bones and Sharol, Gordon, Art, Gilbert, Ken and his wife, Tom, Jon, James, Hank, Eric and Denise, and Dave Thor. Then Roy and Rich met us at the gate.

On top it was hot and still, actually blowing down at launch a little. We walked over to the west face and it was blowing a little down there too, but we figured that thermals would eventually start happening, so after awhile Rich started setting up, and others followed suit.

Dave Thor launched first around eleven, but couldn't get up, soon had to land at the emergency crop duster field on Yellowjacket Ranch. James went next, also had to head out after a few passes, hitting light thermals but then sinking.

No one else wanted to go yet, but I figured it wouldn't stay launchable too much longer, and it would be better to fly and get flushed than not to fly at all. So I went to the launch slot next, with Hank and Jon lining up behind me.

Had a good launch into a light thermal, turned right, got over the rock on the ridge, where I found light lift, so circled there, thinking I might get up, but only maintaining, then gradually slipping lower, circling more in small light thermals.

Hank launched, passed above me to the next ridge, so I decided to head for the next one too, where I found some light lift, made a few passes over some rocks. Hank came back at about my altitude and we both circled there, gradually sinking lower.

He headed out to the west, as did Jon, higher, while I looked for more thermals, but also had to head out soon. Found a light thermal near the crop duster field, where I saw Dave and others, circled from 1000' to 1100' AGL, but then gradually sank 'til I had to prepare to land.

Flew downwind along the fence, then a 180 to the west over the strip, but too high, had to stall to get down, dove out just a foot above the ground, then skimmed the ground downhill for the length of the field, finally flared hard, popped up to ten feet and came down hard on my feet, a good landing for the situation.

Mike Mahoney and Trish were also there, offered cold beer, but I'd brought one with me. Watched others head out and land there too; Ernie, then Gilbert, then Rich Sauer later.

Finally Roy passed over, made it to the other field, as had James, Gordon, Jon, and Hank. But six pilots didn't get to fly at all, as it got too bad at launch, including Bones, Sharol, Ivan, Ken, Art, and Tom.

So, all in all, the day was a disappointment. Carrie finally arrived with Patti, and they were followed by Denise in her new truck.

Earlier, Duane, Gordon, and Jon had brought us some more beer, and Eric had gone for a swim in the pond.

We went to the main landing area to get the others, then to the glider port to get the Scout and head on home. Carrie wasn't too thrilled with Mt. St. Helena, but we were both looking forward to our bike ride on Sunday.

More tomorrow, going to bed now.

Monday, July 4, 1983 - 9:39 AM

Today's very hot. Called the Coast Guard. It's predicted for 15 to 30 knots at the coast. Will probably go out there around noon.

Tuesday, July 5, 1983 - 7:09 AM

A sunny clear day. I'm feeling pretty good.

Yesterday I called Carrie around ten. Told her I wanted to go to Goat Rock around 11:30, asked if she was still interested. She said yes. I told her to bring Lindsay (her giant Schnauzer) if she wanted.

Also tried to call Mel and Brian (who'd called me Saturday), but neither were home. So I loaded my glider and gear and read while waiting for Carrie, who arrived around noon.

So off we went, via Occidental and Coleman Valley Road (to avoid crowded Guerneville on the Fourth of July). There were whitecaps on the ocean, so I imagined it to be blown out, but when we got there, we were surprised to find that it was coming up from the NW at about 8 to 12.

I thought it would pick up, so I began to set up my glider, soon attracting many spectators. When it was all set up, Carrie and I had some lunch (chicken from our barbecue and strawberry cobbler from the pie), before I got ready to launch.

At launch (with Carrie on one wing wire and a spectator on the other) it seemed to have let up again to ten or under, so I waited a few minutes for it to pick up a little, then launched. Made a turn to the left, then right, and was getting up, soon was high overhead, to the spectators' and my own delight.

Made passes in the north bowl. It seemed to be too northy to go to the south hill, though I might have made it okay. I did go out over Goat Rock a few times when I'd get up over 300'.

Waved to a lot of people who waved to me from below. Lots of them were looking up at me, fascinated, and I got a good feeling, "performing" for them, and waving to them, being the "Fourth of July hero" for them.

Was able to go far up towards the big north parking lot and back and did, many times. After awhile a guy and his girl flew a radio controlled glider with me, but he kept it clear of me.

After two hours, I decided to head out and land. Came out over the parking lot with over 200' so went down to the end, then all the way back, then down again, picking a clear spot, hovering over the people on the dunes and beach, and finally making a last turn into the wind and making a good landing on my feet, followed by applause and cheers. Felt very good. Got some help carrying back over the dunes, then folded up.

Headed home after talking a bit with a Hungarian man and his father, who'd been watching me for a long time. He'd flown gliders, he said, now wanted to save his money for a hang glider.

At home we unloaded the gear. It was about 7:30 PM. I was tired, though very much improved in spirits, but was ready to collapse and relax. So Carrie and I said good-bye and she headed on home.

Saturday, July 9, 1983 - 7:25 AM

A sunny clear morning, after some cloudiness yesterday. A high pressure area is said to be moving in.

Monday, July 11, 1983 - 6:43 AM

Looks like today will be a hot clear day. Mary said it was up to 100 around here yesterday.

Carrie and I had a fun weekend at Hull Mountain, and I was able to be with Carrie in the present, having fun.

We decided to take her nice Toyota truck, with air conditioning and tape deck, rather than the Scout, so we figured a way to load on the glider, which worked pretty well, after we nearly lost the glider on the freeway when the foam roll worked its way loose.

But we didn't get off until 9:40, and everyone else had already gone to the top by the time we arrived at the campground, so we had to drive the truck on up the mountain, but were very careful with the bumps.

Some people had launched, but we saw, either then or later: Stretch, Anne, James, Roy, Mel and Lynne, Mike and Dallas, Gordon, Len Smith, and others.

It was switching to northy, so I set up at the Rockpile with Mel and Mike, and by the time we launched, we had to use the north slot at the Rockpile, as it was coming over the back of the mountain.

I got a strong launch, then the stirrup strap broke loose on my Price harness, and I got some lift at the gap to the north, so came back across the face, was going to head out and land (because, without the stirrup I couldn't get prone), until I hit a big thermal over the ridge above lower launch, circled in it and got comfortably above the mountaintop by about 500'.

Then I was able to deal with the stirrup. Fortunately the strap was still in the remaining D-ring (the other had broken), so I grabbed it and pulled it up. Then I was able, after removing my glove and holding it with my teeth, to tie a knot in the strap, which held it, so I was able to continue flying, and stayed above the top for quite awhile by myself.

Finally I headed out to others thermalling above the knob, and flew there awhile with Mike, Mel, and others. Then I headed back up the mountain almost to lower launch, then back to the knob, upwind past Pillsbury Ranch, and finally out to land after three hours.

But I turned too low on the last turn, was pushed out, couldn't go vertical, had to belly land fully pushed out, bent a downtube, but straightened it okay.

Carrie and I sat around the fire awhile, after breaking down my glider, and eventually cooked our dinner. We had steak and salad and a piece of corn.

We walked to the outhouse around 9:40, came back and went to bed.

We slept pretty well. I got up at 6:30 to go running, first to the outhouse, then out the runway to the other end, out another road up the creek, back around the old hangar, around the grassy strip, and back to camp, probably around 4 to 5 miles.

Carrie got up to come for a swim with me, so we walked down the dry creek bed until we got to the water. After a very cold area, it wasn't bad and we walked out 'til it was waist deep. Then I swam out further and came back. We both felt refreshed.

Came back and cooked some breakfast after watching Stretch, Anne, and Roy turn Awk loose for some free flying over the grassy area.

Forgot to mention that Stretch flew to Potter Valley on Saturday, as did Roy, Mike, and Len Smith on Sunday.

Carrie agreed to drive for Roy on Sunday, and we rode up in his truck around 10:30. On top it was NE for the most part, a difficult launch situation. So we all spent an hour or so passing rocks and building up the slope on the launch in front of the propane tank, improving it considerably. And we set up along the road first. I was in line after Anne.

Finally people started launching in marginal conditions. Dave Thor and James got off at the propane tank launch. Stretch waited through a couple of launchable cycles at the ramp, then moved to the propane tank.

I waited at the ramp, but no more cycles came, so moved to the propane tank too. By now there were only cross or no wind situations to take, so I took a no winder, slightly cross, ran hard, and got off okay. Got a good thermal behind lower launch, where many more gliders were set up waiting to launch.

Watched Mike launch from there, and eventually Jon James, who'd come up for the day, but he had to scratch low for a long time before getting up.

I got to 10,000' over lower launch, also flew over Windy Gap and around. Was close to Mike and James for awhile. James said he got a good close picture of me.

I wanted to land early so Carrie and I could get home at a decent hour. So I headed on out to the lake, but there was widespread lift there, taking me from 6300' to 8000'. Went to the other end of the lake then back. Then spiraled down, doing about 50 spirals in each direction and getting quite dizzy.

Then the air was quite turbulent over the LZ. The ground wind was from the SW, but higher it was from the NE, with a very turbulent layer in between, then a wind shadow, and thermals from the hot grass, so I overshot and just kept going, keeping my speed up, finally landing on my feet but a hundred yards to the west.

Folded up, got the truck loaded up, and we left. Stretch and Anne had already left for Potter Valley to get Roy. We stopped at the Eel River for a refreshing skinny dip in that icy water.

Then we headed on out, but at the spring we found Len walking, and hitching back after his flight to Potter Valley. So we reluctantly gave him a ride a few miles back, finally dropping him off, telling him to look for Dallas and Mike, who'd also be coming back from Potter Valley soon. And we did pass them soon, so felt better, but had lost a half hour or so anyway.

Stopped at Henny Penny for cheeseburgers, salad, and shakes. Then we buzzed on home, unloaded, took the truck to the car-wash for a thorough washing, then back to my house to say good-bye around 9:40 PM.

Then to bed soon for me. Slept fair but was awake a few times and for good by about 4:30 AM.

Tuesday, July 12, 1983 - 7:05 AM

Made it through work okay yesterday and was given a couple more small projects. It was a very hot day out, up to 107, they say (one of the benefits of working in an air conditioned computer center).

Wednesday, July 13, 1983 - 7:01 AM

On a sunny day, I'm up to go hang gliding at Mt. St. Helena with Eric, Jon, Ivan, Roy, Stretch, Anne, Gordon, James and others.

We had a meeting last night at Doug Groenhaut's house. It was boring and slow, as usual. Got to show the recent movies finally, and saw some good slides of Eric's from Slide Mountain.

Got to load up now and get going.

2:39 PM

Another stifling hot day. Out to Calistoga early today, met Jon James at the Glider Port. The others were late, had met at the LZ. We headed on up to the top when they arrived. Fortunately, we had an extra driver, Tom, who drove the Scout down from the gate.

It looked good at the top, with light thermals from the south at launch. But Roy went first at 10:30, didn't find anything, had to head out and land.

Stretch waited until eleven, but still didn't find anything, had to land at the emergency strip at the Yellowjacket Ranch.

Later Oly, a guy from Arizona, launched and was able to scratch out front for awhile. Then Anne launched, and I followed at 12:01, had a good launch, turned right, looking for lift over the rocks on the ridge, but didn't find much, scratched in light stuff with Anne below me. Then Eric and Gordon launched also and joined us.

Finally I got a decent thermal over Anne that took me up 400' from 2800' to 3200', but didn't find much else until I got out over the valley where I got another for 200'.

Finally headed out to the LZ, and landed near Roy and Gordon, a fair to poor landing, flaring hard but too late.

Then after Eric landed, we watched as Jon, Ivan, and James caught thermals over the LZ and stayed up another hour or more.

After folding up, we drove over to the emergency strip where we took a dip in the pond until asked to leave.

Then I said good-byes and left for home. James had just landed, but Jon and Ivan were still up, with Jon headed back to the mountain.

Thursday, July 14, 1983 - 6:48 AM

Today's another hot one. I'm sniffling and have a cold. But I'm feeling pretty strong and purposeful, though somewhat depressed.

Mike Kunitani called last evening, wanted to know if I was up for a trip to the Owens Valley in early August. I told him I was feeling ambivalent, would consider it and talk with him over the weekend.

Friday, July 15, 1983 - 7 AM

Another sunny hot one, it looks like. Picked up my pictures after work yesterday afternoon, which were not great, then came home.

Thursday, July 21, 1983 - 6:55 PM

Another sunny day. Talked to Jon, also Mike Kunitani by phone yesterday. We'll be flying at Mt. St. Helena on Saturday.

Saturday, July 23, 1983 - 7:10 AM

Just a few minutes to write, as I have to head early for Mt. St. Helena.

8 PM

I'm pretty tired, have been relaxing, coming down, listening to Jackson Browne music, then shopping and washing my car, after a day flying at Mt. St. Helena and having a few beers afterwards, getting a bit wasted, and still feeling somewhat that way.

Met Ivan and others at the LZ, loaded onto his truck, leaving the Scout and other cars at the LZ, then to the Gliderport to meet the others. Had about fifteen pilots, including Stretch, Anne, Roy, Bill Battagin from Indian Valley, James, Jon, Hank, Mel, Eric, Gordon, Don Piercy, Phil Ray, Oly, Rob DeGroot (famous Australian pilot), and Mike Mahoney, making his first flight there.

Heading up the mountain, we came through a thick fog layer, above which you could see a sea of fog with only a few "islands" showing through, including Mt. Diablo, Mt. Tam, and Sonoma Mountain. So we had to wait in the hot sun on top for quite awhile for it to burn off.

Finally we started launching around one to 1:30, but people weren't able to stay up very long. So I launched at 2:22, after Anne, headed west looking for thermal active areas, but didn't find much at all, finally headed out and landed after only 15 minutes, making a fair high-flare landing, coming down on my feet okay. It felt good to be in the air again though, even if it was short.

Saturday, July 30, 1983 - 7:40 AM

Up getting ready for a trip to Hull Mountain with Carrie. She and I spent a pleasant evening last night, getting past our differences, I think.

Also I told her my feeling that my hang gliding is important to me, whether or not she goes with me, and that I wanted someone who could enjoy it with me, didn't like to feel I was building up obligations every time she goes with me.

Anyway, after talking out our feelings, we reached a better understanding and mutual respect, I think, and we went on out to dinner at Sundance, having chicken crepes and salad.

Monday, August 1, 1983 - 7:25 AM

A nice weekend at Hull Mountain. Carrie and I drove up in her truck, listening to some tapes on the way, getting off around 9:50. At the campground we found Ivan and Patti, Dave Thor, and Tom (from San Francisco) of two weeks ago.

Carrie decided to stay down with Patti, who was going to try a rented windsurfer, so after setting up our tent, the four pilots headed for the top in Ivan's truck.

There was a mishap, which could have been a lot worse, on the way up, as we collided with Mike's Land Cruiser, being driven down by a woman from the campground, rather fast, and in the middle of the road, until she saw us coming around the curve and swerved to the right. Mike's radio aerial was sheared off, but Ivan's left fender was dented and small lights broken. There was nothing to be done, however, so we proceeded to the top.

Lots of people from San Francisco were there also, with Wally, so the setup area was still crowded. I, and others, set up at the Rockpile, which was already launchable.

Had a good launch at 3:15 from the Rockpile, turned in a thermal and made a couple of passes in front of launch, before heading down the ridge, getting another, and circling above the top. Flew around the top for awhile with a few other gliders, then headed out high to where Stretch, Anne, and Roy were thermalling over the dogleg.

Stretch headed back up the mountain, so I followed above him, up to Red Spot and beyond, where by now I was only a couple hundred feet above the trees. We both played in light thermals awhile, just maintaining, then he came over to where I was circling, and we circled together in small thermals.

I got a stronger one and was soon climbing slowly, with Stretch just below. Anne missed it, but we both got high enough to cross Timberline and get below lower launch, where thermals were also coming up.

So after some tight circling there, we both got above lower launch, then worked ourselves back up the ridge over the top, where Dave Thor was, getting to 8500' again. A good feeling of accomplishment after getting back up over the mountain.

Finally Stretch and I, in radio contact, headed out together, flying very close, our wings sometimes just ten feet apart in smooth air. Then we did some wingovers over the landing area, and I had a pretty good landing in a fairly strong wind. I couldn't afford a bent downtube, as I'd forgotten to bring a spare, and one of mine had been severely bent before.

After folding up, Carrie and I went out in the inflatable boat I'd gotten at Marin Surplus. But it was windy, and tough going out through the weeds, but fun and refreshing.

We had our dinner of salad and steak, which I cooked at the campfire, and some wine. Eventually we went to bed.

More later, got to run to work.

12:14 Noon

Continuing...

Slept okay. Got up at 6:45, and I went running around the airstrip again. Then we had coffee, breakfast, and afterwards went out for a row in our inflatable boat, which was nice with no wind.

Got back in time to catch a ride up the hill with Mike, along with Tom, Sergio (a Swiss visitor), and Len Smith. Carrie agreed to come up and drive the Land Cruiser down for us.

On top there were gliders blocking the parking lot, Terry, in particular, so I gave them hell, made them move, told them that it was "no good," that they had to leave the parking lot accessable.

We went to the Rockpile where the setup area was clear and it was already launchable. After getting the Land Cruiser maneuvered out for Carrie (it had gotten blocked in), I set up and went to launch at 1:01.

Got a good launch off the Rockpile, headed south across the ridge to the east bowl, down the ridge to the chute behind lower launch, where I started circling in a nice thermal, which took me up the ridge and over the top to about 8000'.

Talked to Mel at lower launch by radio, and he soon launched, but couldn't get to the east bowl where the thermals were happening. He scratched his way down the mountain and had to land.

I stayed over the top with lots of gliders, and was pleased to find some nice cores, in which I was able to climb past all of them in small circles and get to the top of the stack.

Flew with Mike awhile, who had eventually gotten launched at the propane tank. Finally got to 9000', my maximum, then headed out over the campground, then over the lake to Pogey Point, and finally down to land. Had a fair one, running with a hard flare, not dropping the nose, after an hour and 45 minutes.

Folded up soon, so we could get an early start home, then packed all the gear, said our good-byes and left.

Stopped at the Eel River for our swim in the frigid water. Then on to Ukiah for supper at the Henny Penny. Came on home, listening to Cat Stevens on the way, but both of us quite tired.

Unloaded my gear, then to the car wash to wash the truck. Finally we relaxed awhile, until nine, then Carrie headed home.

We seemed close again, felt pretty good together. I went to bed, slept okay. Was tired at work today.

Thursday, August 4, 1983 - 7:17 AM

We're planning to go to Dillon Beach on Friday, and Carrie will come too, try a flight or two also.

Friday, August 5, 1983 - 4:41 PM

After work yesterday I went to pick up Carrie, then to Bones' shop to try on a helmet for her to use at Dillon Beach. Bones has grown back his mustache. I think he looked better without it, whereas I look better with mine.

We'd made arrangements with Mary to meet her at Dillon Beach in the morning.

Mary was set up by the time we arrived and we headed on up the hill, said hi to Wally, who was there with a group of students. Also said hi to Tim and Paul, who were on the hill flying Mike Mahoney's old Talon, which flew nicely. They drove for us at Mt. St. Helena a few weeks ago.

Mary's first two flights were okay, though she let her nose pop up when she started running. But she stalled both the third and fourth flights and crashed on the hill, was pretty disappointed with herself after that, didn't want to fly for awhile, told me to take Carrie down lower for some flights.

So we went down to the lower hill where Wally and his group were. There we did about three runs on sloping ground, then two "flights" in which she got just a couple of feet off the ground.

Then Mary was ready to fly again, as the wind had picked up some. She did two more flights, both good, keeping the nose down, so we finally quit on a good note.

After Mary had folded up her glider, we all left, with Carrie and me heading to Cotati, where we got milkshakes at Foster's, then I dropped her off. We were both very tired. I said I wanted to take a nap, came on home, wrote this after eating something.

Saturday, August 6, 1983 - 9:22 AM

Slept fairly well last night but was awake off and on. Remembered to call Make Cate at 9:45, but he wasn't home, so talked to Marty, told her about the Land Cruiser I'd looked at. She said she's been urging Mike to go out and fly.

9:16 PM

Now I'm not sure what to do tomorrow. May get up early and head for Elk Mountain.

Sunday, August 7, 1983 - 10:52 AM

Spending a lazy day at home. Slept late, just had breakfast. Had thoughts of getting up early and heading for Elk or Hull, but a cloudy early morning sky has settled my ambivalence.

Friday, August 12, 1983 - 7:20 AM

I did a lot of telephoning. Called Sharol at the shop and we talked a long time. She'd had heat stroke last weekend. Tried to decide where to fly this weekend. She won't be flying, but Bones will be at Elk, Don Piercy at Hull.

Called Carrie, who'd tried to call me. Told her Sharol had space left in her training session. Carrie wants to, but is low on money right now, decided to go anyway, called Sharol back. She doesn't have weekend plans, so will go with me flying, either to Hull, or possibly to Usal, if winds look likely.

I'd seen Mel at Safeway, and we'd stopped and had a long talk. He told me both his trucks had been broken into and robbed Monday night, as well as others in the complex. He lost both CBs, tools, money, etc., had been depressed, but was feeling better now.

We agreed to go to Usal if it looked good.

Also I called Mike Cate. He has a new 4WD truck, an '82 Toyota. He's running a race Saturday, but is interested in coming up Sunday. I told him of our doubts about where to go, weather dependent.

The weather reports weren't too bad for Usal.

Saturday, August 13, 1983 - 7:34 AM

Today's foggy. I'm in a somewhat blue mood as I get ready to go to Hull Mountain with Carrie. The winds didn't look promising enough for Usal, where we were going to go.

Sunday, August 14, 1983 - 8:20 PM

Tired after a good day at Hull today. Went by myself after all, as Carrie and I had a long talk when she got here, with the result that we decided not to see each other any more, at least for now.

She arrived around 9:20, shortly after Ivan dropped over. His truck had broken down Friday evening as they were about to head for Hull. He'd stopped by when he saw my glider on the Scout. I was trying to think of ways they could still go.

When Carrie arrived, I assumed we'd go in her truck, but considered taking the Scout instead, so we could carry Ivan's glider too, and Ivan and Patti could go in their car.

But Carrie was uptight, said afterwards that I'd "put her on the spot" by asking her in front of Ivan. Then in the kitchen, she was starting to cry, after Ivan had left. He'd decided to stay home and work on his truck anyway.

So Carrie and I had a long talk on the sofa. She was tense, confused, wasn't sure what was causing her feelings. I tried to get her to talk about them.

Anyway, after a long talk, she decided, and I agreed, that perhaps we shouldn't see each other anymore, because it's not working, and we don't seem to be able to be together well. I told her I was going to go on up to Hull. But she said she needed to be alone, wasn't going to go after all.

So we said a friendly good-bye and she headed on home. I packed the Scout and left around noon. I actually felt pretty happy, felt happier by myself again, without the hassles and bending that are required with someone else (unless that someone is adaptable and easy to be with).

Got to the campground. Bones had arrived recently from Elk. Marty was there. Curt had just landed. Another pilot, who had just landed also, agreed to be a driver for us with his girlfriend. His name was Dan, hers I forget. So they, and Bones and I, rode up in the Scout.

On top, a huge black cloud was over and behind the mountain, with lightning and rain, but it looked launchable. But as soon as I decided to set up, it started raining, and also the wind switched to strong northerly. So finally, we all drove down without flying.

Had nice socializing with Bones, Don and Marty, Gordon, Denise, Lauretta, and others.

Played a couple of games of chess with Gordon. Beat him the first game strongly. In the second he finally resigned. But I told him he had a good move, which he hadn't seen, so we continued, and he eventually won that game this morning. I beat him in the third game, which we finished after flying this afternoon.

Went to bed around eleven. Lay outside looking at the stars awhile, 'til the mosquitoes were bothering me, so went into the tent. Slept pretty well until 6:45.

Got up and took my run, again about four to five miles, I think. Felt good. Then went swimming. The lake was down about six feet since two weeks ago, so I walked across to Sunset Campground and swam there.

Then breakfast. Mike Cate arrived with his new red Toyota 4WD truck, and it was nice seeing him. He drove for Bones, Gordon, and me in the Scout.

On top it was soarable from the SSE. I was ready first, so I was the wind dummy, making a good launch at the propane tank, turning left and soaring the ridge, getting over by 200 feet or so. Eventually headed out front to the gullies behind lower launch, found lift there, circled up and got a few hundred feet above the top. Thermals would periodically come through and I was getting higher and higher.

Gordon finally launched, but got skunked, headed on out, but got a thermal out past Red Spot and came back up. Soon others were launching and many of us were staying over the top. I eventually got to 9500' a couple of times, my high for the day.

Bones and Don had headed out, so after two hours or so, I did too. It had gotten pretty windy from the South and some people had problems penetrating out, like Denise and Lauretta, who both just barely made it, and a guy named Al, from San Francisco, who recently moved out here from Connecticut.

Had a fair landing, as there was more of a gradient than I expected, and I got popped at the last minute, nosed in, swung through, didn't break anything.

Got folded up. Oh yes, someone turned a truck over on the way down the mountain. Not one of our group however.

Socialized, had a few beers, finished the chess game with Gordon, then finally left for home around five. Stopped for a refreshing dip in the Eel River, then buzzed on home.

I'm pretty tired and sore. Will take a bath.

End of Volume 30