Some scary moment at Dog Mountain (Aug 24,2014 report) :
So sorry for causing everyone to worry about me yesterday (Aug 24th 2014) at Dog Mtn (Glenoma, Washington). To keep the story short, I got up high (approx 4500FT AGL) at Dog Mt. and went across the lake over to Elk Mtn tried to stay away from the storm and got even higher when I reached Elk. At some point I experienced a sudden wind switch due to an oncoming storm with a strong east that I wasn't able to penetrate even at full speed, while trying to return back to the Dogpatch landing field. So, I decided to pick a very unfriendly BAILOUT spot to land rather than end up in the trees or water. Luckily, I had a soft landing without getting wrack, injured and wet.
A BIG thanks to Travis again in taking quick action retrieving a boat that came to my rescue at this remote location.
The 1 of 2 video http://youtu.be/8ACT6IXXwoQ is another video from the same flight (Aug 24th 2014) before wind switch 180" from east. It was smooth air during the whole flight and one thermal took me, Lenny and Marty straight up to cloud base. I should have followed Tina and Larry landing before the gust front rolled in from east.
Some people have asked if this was my best option, or if I should've gone tailwind and fly further out east? Well, when I was still around 4000ft AGL I did realize that flying in strong headwind will possibly lead to not making it back to Dog LZ . At that time, I did consider going downwind too, but didn't feel conformable heading inside the gust front clouds with zero visibility. Also, I didn't have a cell phone or radio on me and it was getting late (around 6:30pm at that time). If I had gone further down, it's possible that I might end up in some unreachable area setting me in deeper trouble. I also tried heading north flying in cross winds to the other side, but it was a long way crossing the lake from where I was.
So, I pretty much made up my mind that my best option would be to land at the shoreline. At least people at Dog patch would be able to see me and increase my chance of rescue. It did cross my mind whether anyone took notice to where I land. If I wasn't noticed, I had the plans of looking for the road on top of the shoreline during my descension period and taking that old road to walk back to Dog if I made a successful landing. That was my plan if I didn't get rescued, to be able to walk back to Dog and retrieve the glider the next day.
Anyways, I'm not sure if it was my best option, but certainly one that I felt most comfortable with and probably will do the same thing again should this event be repeated in my "DREAM". I hope no one would need to go through what I did yesterday. The outcome could've been much worse. I'm sure a guardian angel was looking after me.
This is 1 of 2 video from yesterday (Aug 24th 2014) before wind switch 180" from east. You can go to 2 of 2 video link http://youtu.be/-nHRgfR-SiU to watch how I escape from disaster
So sorry for causing everyone to worry about me yesterday (Aug 24th 2014) at Dog Mtn (Glenoma, Washington). To keep the story short, I got up high (approx 4500FT AGL) at Dog Mt. and went across the lake over to Elk Mtn tried to stay away from the storm and got even higher when I reached Elk. At some point I experienced a sudden wind switch due to an oncoming storm with a strong east that I wasn't able to penetrate even at full speed, while trying to return back to the Dogpatch landing field. So, I decided to pick a very unfriendly BAILOUT spot to land rather than end up in the trees or water. Luckily, I had a soft landing without getting wrack, injured and wet.
A BIG thanks to Travis again in taking quick action retrieving a boat that came to my rescue at this remote location.
It was smooth air during the whole flight and one thermal took me, Lenny and Marty straight up to cloud base. I should have followed Tina and Larry landing before the gust front rolled in from east.
Some people have asked if this was my best option, or if I should've gone tailwind and fly further out east? Well, when I was still around 4000ft AGL I did realize that flying in strong headwind will possibly lead to not making it back to Dog LZ . At that time, I did consider going downwind too, but didn't feel conformable heading inside the gust front clouds with zero visibility. Also, I didn't have a cell phone or radio on me and it was getting late (around 6:30pm at that time). If I had gone further down, it's possible that I might end up in some unreachable area setting me in deeper trouble. I also tried heading north flying in cross winds to the other side, but it was a long way crossing the lake from where I was.
So, I pretty much made up my mind that my best option would be to land at the shoreline. At least people at Dog patch would be able to see me and increase my chance of rescue. It did cross my mind whether anyone took notice to where I land. If I wasn't noticed, I had the plans of looking for the road on top of the shoreline during my descension period and taking that old road to walk back to Dog if I made a successful landing. That was my plan if I didn't get rescued, to be able to walk back to Dog and retrieve the glider the next day.
Anyways, I'm not sure if it was my best option, but certainly one that I felt most comfortable with and probably will do the same thing again should this event be repeated in my "DREAM". I hope no one would need to go through what I did yesterday. The outcome could've been much worse. I'm sure a guardian angel was looking after me.
So sorry for causing everyone to worry about me yesterday (Aug 24th 2014) at Dog Mtn (Glenoma, Washington). To keep the story short, I got up high (approx 4500FT AGL) at Dog Mt. and went across the lake over to Elk Mtn tried to stay away from the storm and got even higher when I reached Elk. At some point I experienced a sudden wind switch due to an oncoming storm with a strong east that I wasn't able to penetrate even at full speed, while trying to return back to the Dogpatch landing field. So, I decided to pick a very unfriendly BAILOUT spot to land rather than end up in the trees or water. Luckily, I had a soft landing without getting wrack, injured and wet.
A BIG thanks to Travis again in taking quick action retrieving a boat that came to my rescue at this remote location.
The 1 of 2 video http://youtu.be/8ACT6IXXwoQ is another video from the same flight (Aug 24th 2014) before wind switch 180" from east. It was smooth air during the whole flight and one thermal took me, Lenny and Marty straight up to cloud base. I should have followed Tina and Larry landing before the gust front rolled in from east.
Some people have asked if this was my best option, or if I should've gone tailwind and fly further out east? Well, when I was still around 4000ft AGL I did realize that flying in strong headwind will possibly lead to not making it back to Dog LZ . At that time, I did consider going downwind too, but didn't feel conformable heading inside the gust front clouds with zero visibility. Also, I didn't have a cell phone or radio on me and it was getting late (around 6:30pm at that time). If I had gone further down, it's possible that I might end up in some unreachable area setting me in deeper trouble. I also tried heading north flying in cross winds to the other side, but it was a long way crossing the lake from where I was.
So, I pretty much made up my mind that my best option would be to land at the shoreline. At least people at Dog patch would be able to see me and increase my chance of rescue. It did cross my mind whether anyone took notice to where I land. If I wasn't noticed, I had the plans of looking for the road on top of the shoreline during my descension period and taking that old road to walk back to Dog if I made a successful landing. That was my plan if I didn't get rescued, to be able to walk back to Dog and retrieve the glider the next day.
Anyways, I'm not sure if it was my best option, but certainly one that I felt most comfortable with and probably will do the same thing again should this event be repeated in my "DREAM". I hope no one would need to go through what I did yesterday. The outcome could've been much worse. I'm sure a guardian angel was looking after me.
So sorry for causing everyone to worry about me yesterday (Aug 24th 2014) at Dog Mtn (Glenoma, Washington). To keep the story short, I got up high (approx 4500FT AGL) at Dog Mt. and went across the lake over to Elk Mtn tried to stay away from the storm and got even higher when I reached Elk. At some point I experienced a sudden wind switch due to an oncoming storm with a strong east that I wasn't able to penetrate even at full speed, while trying to return back to the Dogpatch landing field. So, I decided to pick a very unfriendly BAILOUT spot to land rather than end up in the trees or water. Luckily, I had a soft landing without getting wrack, injured and wet.
A BIG thanks to Travis again in taking quick action retrieving a boat that came to my rescue at this remote location.
It was smooth air during the whole flight and one thermal took me, Lenny and Marty straight up to cloud base. I should have followed Tina and Larry landing before the gust front rolled in from east.
Some people have asked if this was my best option, or if I should've gone tailwind and fly further out east? Well, when I was still around 4000ft AGL I did realize that flying in strong headwind will possibly lead to not making it back to Dog LZ . At that time, I did consider going downwind too, but didn't feel conformable heading inside the gust front clouds with zero visibility. Also, I didn't have a cell phone or radio on me and it was getting late (around 6:30pm at that time). If I had gone further down, it's possible that I might end up in some unreachable area setting me in deeper trouble. I also tried heading north flying in cross winds to the other side, but it was a long way crossing the lake from where I was.
So, I pretty much made up my mind that my best option would be to land at the shoreline. At least people at Dog patch would be able to see me and increase my chance of rescue. It did cross my mind whether anyone took notice to where I land. If I wasn't noticed, I had the plans of looking for the road on top of the shoreline during my descension period and taking that old road to walk back to Dog if I made a successful landing. That was my plan if I didn't get rescued, to be able to walk back to Dog and retrieve the glider the next day.
Anyways, I'm not sure if it was my best option, but certainly one that I felt most comfortable with and probably will do the same thing again should this event be repeated in my "DREAM". I hope no one would need to go through what I did yesterday. The outcome could've been much worse. I'm sure a guardian angel was looking after me.
