Owens Valley, 4th July weekend 2003Feedback |
Owens Valley is sort of like Mecca for mountain hang glider pilots. A hot desert valley with the Sierras to the West and the Whites to the East, each of which are over 14K in places. Some of the striking things about flying here is dressing for cold temps found at elevation when its over 100 degrees on the desert floor, flying with oxygen for when you start to get over 15,000 ft high, and feeling low in the mountains when you get down to 10,000 (because its a long glide out to the road which is at 4K). But the views while flying along the Sierras are spectacular, with huge granite spines and spires, patches of snow, and alpine lakes. Its an amazing way to see the always amazing high Sierra.
A great panorama of the Sierras with labels as taken from the Whites from the Sonoma Wings site.
Some 3D views of the Valley with GPS tracks from a couple of my flights