We had perfect weather this day, particularly for frogs....

Pilots of today's hopeful paragliding group were (left to right):  Visitor Ron Kohn (OK), Doak Hoover, Grady Viramontes, Martha Desmond (driver), and visitor Matt Nagel (MO).  (Had Robinson is not visible because he took this shot.)  Visitors and family are always welcome!

The following photos speak for themselves.  We had virga, rain (even at launch), gusty winds, dust devils, and everything else that encourages soaring aircraft to stay on the ground.

In the photo below, note the dust devils (intense thermals) that released along the shadow line of the huge cloud above.  Thermals start as large bodies of buoyant hot air next to the ground.  Physics tells us that matter of different temperatures does not tend to mix which is why these parcels of hot air do not immediately rise and mix with the cooler air above.  Meanwhile, these parcels grow warmer and warmer from the sun.  But at some point, they must rise and this process can begin when a trigger or catalyst is encountered.  This can be a road, a power line, a line of buildings, or some important difference in the terrain, including a shadow from a cloud as we see below.  A boiling pot of water illustrates the same principle where the bubbles of steam begin at the same points on the bottom.  In fact, in smooth glass containers water can be superheated to far above the boiling point so that when a few sharp glass chips are tossed in, the water nearly explodes.  The thermals below, similarly, are exploding into the air above.

It was cold at launch and, being wet, we almost built a fire to stay warm.  When it was raining, we threw the gliders in the cab of the truck and the pilots either got soaked, crawled under the truck, or took refuge under some rock outcroppings.  Only our cherished driver, Martha, earned the only space in the truck.  The rain cloud below passed over us earlier.

We waited as long as we could and conditions got worse so we all headed to the Golden Corral for dinner - and that was a success!  Next time....