Wolf Record Flight

This flight was from Wolf launch in Sonora Pass, off Hwy 108, 30miles north of Yosemite Park. The winds were predicted to be light NE so I figured a flight down the Sierras was possible. Ken Muscio and Chris(The Big Guy) Mckeon were with me. Chris offered to drive. Yahoo!! There were fires burning in the southern Sierra spreading smoke throughout the region. You can see the smoke below the clouds in most of these photos. This is looking South from just west of launch after climbing up.

Looking west from same area.

This is looking NE from 14726'. You can see the marine base (the light spot behind my flying wires) and Pickle Meadow the bailout LZ in front of it. I'm heading SE toward Twin Lakes.

Twin Lakes. The day is looking good, with cloudbase rising to around 17000' before it was through. I stayed between 13 and 16 for most of the flight. I did have oxygen.

Looking NE toward Bridgeport valley and reservoir. Twin Lakes below. I continued on flying the east boundary of Yosemite Park over Tioga Pass down to Mammoth Mt. No problems, staying high and deep the whole time. I could see Yosemite Valley, Halfdome, Touloume Meadows, the Ritter Range, Devils Postpile. I flew over the top of Mammoth Mt. and could see people getting off the tram to site see. I'll have to do this flight again on a clearer day and get more photos . Truly glorious country!!

continued in next(older)post.