Quite pretty following the river, you can see the center of the thermal I am in swirling on the water (top right).
I flew the first leg with Larry Bunner. We worked well together having taken the first start.
At the Fort Meyers turn point we could see the 2nd starters catching us. Cloudbase had lifted and climbs were stronger. The sky was over developing to the south.
It wasn't too long until the Jeffs Dustin and Derreck reeled me in.
Alex's Dad is driving for us this comp. We are very lucky to have such a experienced pilot and supper nice guy drive for us.
Jonny was helping Dustin see what he looked like in Jeff's new covert harness. Looks pretty slick.
Jonny, Dustin and Alex and the Dragon flies all put a show on for us.
Just before the rain started....
The first couple of days were a really quite damp. The second day a large group of us went to see the movie "How to Train your Dragon". Honestly I had no idea what I was going to see, but there are some great flying scenes in it, sometimes people ask me what Hang Gliding is like, well it actually is quite like this, really...
I think most folks had moments of grovelling. Only 14 made it to goal I beleive. Look how wet the ground is. 
I really just wanted a change of scenery and stretch my legs a bit.
I got so much more.
It was wild and wonderful.
And quite photogenic too.
I made it into Arizona just as the sun went down, and stopped near the New Mexico border.
Next morning I woke to a gorgious spring day. Spring is really late this year in the desert and the wildflowers are abundant. 
After a passing the central divide (geologically fascinating section of the country to me) and a good nosh in Lordsburg I decided I needed a break from the interstate.
My plan was to drive cross country to Dallas. North at Las Cruces and over to White Sands National Monument, then up over the pass to Artisia.
When I got there I got a call to pick up a glider in San Antonio. Hmmmm that was a big detour.
The next morning I headed off to Rickers place in Louisana, not too far. Got there at dusk after stopping in Alexandria, just because I needed a change of scenery.
It was a long 9 day journey but not too exhausting.
I think this is Morton Peak to the east.
The winds really picked up through the day and there were moments of pretty textured air. Lenticular wave clouds were stacking up through the day.
I ended up just flying out infront to stay out of the high level winds and associated turbulence. I saw these two ballons swirling their way up toward me. It was surprizingly difficult to get a good shot of them. Quite fun trying though.
Nice landing on the green grass. Mission accomplished, the glider flys straight as an arrow, many pilots were drooling over the wing (including me) I am pretty stoked.
I was under a very lifty cloud so I just tootled along into the 24km/h headwind. With that wind I could easily just glide back whenever I wanted. Or not... Here I am looking at a potential LZ. This is the church on Sierra Rd. 
Just a few weeks ago EricH took us on a tour of the north and south XC routes. I would never have attempted this flight without doing this. LZ's are few and far between. And Hazards are plenty. 
I did get back up, a couple of times. 
There were some flecks of rain here and there that had me nervous, I speed up to get out of the drizzel, which was localized in the convergence marching south down the valley. Interestingly back at Ed Levin the wind turned NE and flushed all the other pilots. 
Once out of the lift/rain band I was sinking again, I did not have the hieght I wanted to jump the Metcalf Hills. 
With the sink I was soon scoping out a nice conservative landing. 
Uphill into wind, short green grass, with butter cups, easy retrieve, very likely my cell phone would work, thats the way I like it. You have to remember every outlanding here is an "emergency" landing. Maybe like having a flat tire in a car, you shouldn't be stopped where you are, but you deal with it in that manner. This beautiful field was incident free.
Piece of cake, thanks so much to Chris for coming and getting me, and to MarginalMark for the ride up the Hill. 
Here is the short 28km flight, I was in the air about 1hr25. Not bad for March. 
Grass was all green, hardly surprizing with 2 weeks of warm sunshine after a month of rain. 
Wilder has a really nice selection of diverse terrain and eco-systems.
Santa Cruz has a diverse range of cultures... 
It was a warm day in March, with the easter holidays the beach was packed. Some folks were swiming in the ocean without wetsuits ! (They have to be mad !)
Round 2 was Big Basin State Park. 
Waddle beach to Berry creek Falls. The falls were in full flow, very nice to see.
The lighting in the canyon is different everytime I visit, I see something new everytime.
Paul & Peter were excited to see this little Salamander.
I think we spent 6.5 hours on the trail that day and it was over all to quickly. It was great to see Paul again, and return the tour guide favour :) 