Today was a far cry from yesterday. Daniel P. showed up at the house at 10am, on his way up to work on the launch some more, and did we want a ride up? So off we went.
Skies were a lot drier than yesterday, less clouds and it looked a bit more high pressure. But the thermals were coming in steadily at noon so I launch first to see what was out there.
What was out there was a lot of punchy ratty air. Small tight thermals with rough edges and I couldn't get very high. And it was windy too. I think there was a bit of east in the winds, and when there's east aloft it's not the greatest conditions for La Malinche.
I tried getting high enough to go over the back, but not quite enough, and the usual house thermal over the cliffs to the east wasn't there. Instead it was to the west of launch that seemed to be working more. Anyways, after about an hour of working to keep my glider open and overhead, I decided I'd had enough and headed out to land just around the corner and behind launch.
Landed in a nice field next to the main highway to San Antonio, where the usual family w/ kids came out to meet me. In my broken Spanish I explained where I had come from and what a paraglider was. Made my way to the main road and phoned Daniel P., who was still on launch, banging away on some rocks, who said Jim and Chad were still up there. They had seen my flight and were not inspired, and opted to wait until 3pm or so when they thought it would get better. So I taxied my way back to Casa Del Piloto for some lunch (7 pesos!).
Went back up to launch with Daniel around 4pm, who had left launch for lunch too, and was on his way back up for another go at a big rock. When we arrived Chad was in the air on his was to Tenancingo, and Jim was still above launch trying to get high to do the same. They had launched into similar conditions as me, and it was still windy ridgy high pressure stuff. By this time of day the conditions were weaker and Jim couldn't get high enough to head over the back, so he top-landed to see if the "restitution" (glass off) would materialize. It never did, and Daniel M. showed up for a fly and ended up landing around the corner where I had earlier in the day, while Jim and I drove down after watching the sun set.
So in the end it was not really XC-able, although I'm sure some people did at Valle. But it was sooo nice to be parawaiting on launch in the heat and sun!
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