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More Slope Safari 06 Reporting
Posted by Greg Smith on Aug 29, 2006, 08:40
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We started the day at Buffalo, WY with the intention of flying locally
if it was good or going up into the Bighorn Mountains to explore and
fly if Buffalo was not working, which it wasn't.
There are three passes through Bighorn Range. Long story short, we did them all today.
Longer
version, we went north to Sheridan where Hwy 14 enters the Bighorns
from the east. This route is actually the same for two of the passes
for a while. We flew at a couple of pull outs along the East side. Had
good wind and lift for Weasels. Landing on the road or in the pullouts
was all that was available but the flying and views were great.
At
Burgess Junction you can go Hwy 14 towards Greybull or Alt 14 towards
Cody. I had been through these parts many times and had in my mind a
site I wanted to try and was sure it was on the 14 to Greybull route so that
is the way we went. Turns out it wasn't. So, after coming down the west
side and wanting to explore some ridges along the west side of the
Bighorns we headed to Greybull, went south to Manderson, took a nice
short cut to Ten Sleep, where there is a sweet ridge that would be
great with the right wind. No luck there today though. So, instead we
had an excellent ice cream cone at Dirty Sally's in Ten Sleep and
headed up the Hwy 16 pass that would lead back to Buffalo if we went
all the way back over. Again, I thought this was the way I wanted but
turns out it was not. In the end that worked out to be a good thing. We
found a great slope that is about 700 feet above the immediate
surroundings and a lot higher above valleys further out. Over 8,000
feet, no trees, very few rocks and a good exposure to S to ESE winds.
Gotta check that direction for sure. I will post a separate listing in
the Wyoming slope section with the specifics.
Anyway, we did a
Weasel test and found the lift good with strong thermals and cyclical
sink but the lift was good even during the sink phase along the lip so
you could ride it out. Several hundred foot a minute thermal lift had
us getting out other planes. I flew the Extreme and Dave flew his 3-meterish
ASW-17. Both were great to fly and if we'd had more time we'd have
stayed for more. As it was there was still another pass to check.
Third
time's a charm. The final pass necessitated going back through Buffalo,
through Sheridan, getting gas at the same gas station in Ranchester and
heading up the same beginning part of HWY 14. Difference here was at
Burgess Junction we went towards Cody. This is the route I wanted. 10
miles or so in, and 9,000 feet up the trees disappear. There are many
great spots and with a Wyoming Gazetter you will be able to navigate in
to lots of great spots. Try the Medicine Wheel road and look towards
the FAA dome. Bald Mountain is cool too. Roads rage from careful travel
in a car to I'd really like a 4-WD.
On the way down the pass on
the way to Lovell, we had a Bonus Moose spotting. Biggest guy I've ever
seen. Good thing for the long lens so we didn't have to get too close!
Going down the pass are several pullouts that overlook the west side of
the Bighorns from over 4,000 feet up. Spectacular views and good wind
on the way down so more Weasel flying. Same rock, road and parking lot
landing issues as many pullout spot flying sites but some places could
be glass ship flying for the brave or really skilled.
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