It was a bit before everyone showed up but we ended up with 9 of us hiking up.

I ended up in hiking mode and my legs just didn't stop for long. I motored my way up the constantly inclined trail.

I was following the buried electrical line path which was nicely flagged the whole way.

The Corkscrew fire had burned through the whole area years ago and the standing dead are all from then.

I got to a T junction, one way went out to the north while the cable track went south. I went south while the rest of the group headed north.

As I got closer to the top I ran into snow and lots of fresh runoff.

There was running water flowing from this hillside, about 2 feet below the top surface. It was a really healthy flow of at least 5 gallons per minute that then ran d0own the road and eventually to the creek below.

On the way up I had looked at my Garmin at .98 miles and I was at 27 minutes so I put it in my head to try for a 30 min mile average to the summit. I actually managed to do a bit better. The summit of Swoop Mountain is pretty killer with a nearly 360 degree view. This is looking east at Mt. Spokane and our farm is below it.

Looking back down to the LZ and the trails up. THIS is the east launch. When I got to the top the wind was NUKING! It would blast over 20 mph then let off for a minute then go right back to blasting. It was cold wind but I was soaked from the hike. I was super happy I took my new Grunden's hoodie as it was PERFECT!

Looking North North East.

Then looking North.

This is looking south at Long Lake which is the Spokane River. Out there beyond it a ways is the Spokane airport and Fairchild AFB.

Then this is looking west. This mountain ridge line is flyable in all directions, we just need to get landing zones to the west which is Springdale and Tum Tum along highway 231.

So I had managed the 30 minute miles and did the 2.8 miles and 2000 ft vert in under 1.5 hours.

So with no chance of launching the summit I decided to go to the next mountain and look for a launch site there.

The hoodie was BOMB! Perfectly warm and wind proof.

I hiked down the dead end road and ended up on the point which had serious potential but he winds were still just way too strong for me to try to launch by myself.

I sat down then and waited to feel the wind cycles. I finally found the rest of the club on the NEXT mountain to the north.

You can just make out the white wing or Arron in the lower right. He was the first to fly and he made it all the way to the LZ with little trouble. His take off was sketch but he made it off.

I finally had it and hiked down the hill to a knoll I could see below me. It was rounded and looked like it wouldn't have the wind pumping so hard over it. I hiked myself onto the knoll and found a pretty killer spot to launch from. TONS of sticks and debris which made getting my wing in the air a bit tricky.

Laid out I got my wing up once but a tiny pine had snagged a line so I had to setup again. This time I did a close horseshoe which worked well.

Pulled up and the wall built before dropping back.

Thankfully nothing caught and I was able to get the wing up.

I had to do some major leaning and dancing over the debris but I managed to get into the air.

I had a bit of trouble getting my ass in my harness so let go of my right brake which spun the wing and I had to drag myself back into the wind.

I got situated and the flight ended up super smooth with very little lift to play with. I had to push on the bar a bit here and there to get some penetration but it wasn't too bad.

Looking back to the north which is where 3 people ended up launching from, along the ridge line.

I flew down over the lz and got some bumps of lift which had me thinking.

All the green grass areas are marsh now so it's best to land on the outer areas.

I came in a bit high so decided to go for a 360 turn a little low to the ground.

I slid out of my harness as I came in a little hot.

Right as my feet were about to mash into the ground a bump of lift hit my wing and it slowed enough for me to land just a little bit hard. But I stuck it.

An 8 minute flight wasn't too long but it was proof of concept for the site.

I was the 2nd to fly and it took a long time for everyone else to get their flights in.

So Arron and I sat at the vehicles and watched and waited as the rest of the club got into the air. The group who had been with Arron where he had launched watched my launch and headed for that spot. 4 pilots launched it. 3 other pilots had hiked along hte ridge to the north and found a killer launch which put them up above the mountains and ridge line.

Chris got flight of the day with a 35 minute flight and he got over 5800ft high. He was that little dot just right of center.

Eventually all but one pilot had landed, he was still in the air, and I packed up and headed for home. My legs and body had begun to feel the impact of the hike. My calves had seized pretty hard when I had gone to launch so I spent much of the time stretching them in hopes of lessening the pain.

Once home I had to seriously rest while I dealt with the pics and vids. I noticed the Chiefs game was on and by the time I turned it on it was the 2nd intermission and they were up 6-0. Then the 3rd started and they nearly gave the game up. They kept letting goals in and it looked like they could easily lose.

Luckily they managed an empty net to finish it in the last seconds.

Soaking was nice but only helped my body so much. I'm still super sore this morning and I've already got the calf sleeves on to help the recovery.

More rains again this week. I have to work on the truck more, try and recover from yesterday, get the boys to school then pickup J from running club, R has wrestling practice, and the boys will be on spring break in a few days.

SIGNUP FOR YOUR NEWTON PORTAL ACCOUNT AND WE BOTH EARN!