Box Springs Paragliding Nov 3

One of my main motivations for getting into paragliding was to have another way to explore and recreate in my backyard, the Box Springs Mountain Park. I have accumulated 50 flights and so am starting to feel comfortable branching out to where I can evaluate flying sites on my own. I have a great big open field in front of my house that is flat and mowed clear of weeds that makes an excellent and highly convenient landing site for me. The challenge I knew would be finding a good launch site. I needed a large enough space that could be cleared of weeds, not too steep or rocky, and facing the correct way so that I could launch into the wind. I had been scouting all around the hills while out on trail runs over the last several months. I’ve spotted many potential launches but almost all of them had poorly placed boulders in the runout area which I’d be concerned to run into. Also most of these launches were well off trails which meant extra annoyance of wading through sock destroying foxtails. I had a rare weekend day at home with few tasks at hand and so went for a morning run to Table peak. I spotted several potentially good launches along the way but then near the top it appeared, the best launch I had seen yet. It faced the right way, was sizable, would give me 1200’ descent, and seemed to have a good flight path down to the field. As a bonus it had easy trail access. A concern was the abrupt cliff it ended at! I’d need to be committed by the time I got to the edge. Excited, I went about my day with plans to hike up with a rake and gear in the afternoon with the hope that I could clear the launch and the winds would be favorable.

I hiked up to my launch in about 40 minutes. Windy! I killed time taking a nice clearing while I hoped the wind calmed as sunset approached. I raked for a solid hour by which point I thought the wind calmed enough that it was worth attempting a launch. I unfurled and strapped in. I puffed up the wing to create an even wall and then fought the wind a little to keep the wing on the ground. Everything ready, I gave it a slight tug, it leaped overhead, inflated mostly evenly, I turned as the last wing tip cleared, took no more than three steps and was propelled skyward in an abrupt updraft. A smooth launch. Instant joy! After the boost off launch the air was silky smooth. I beelined for the Two Trees trail to make sure I had enough clearance to get to the LZ but ended up maintaining height better than I thought. I followed the trail down it’s ridge to the pointy hill at the end and then switch backed adjacent to the field. On final approach I got a little nervous at my height relative to the low fence separating the two fields and so opted to turn to land in the further field. I had a smooth landing with all smiles. A short walk brought me to my driveway where I could fold my gear back up. It was only about an 8 min flight but was probably the most satisfying flight of the 50 I have logged. And I could certainly see the potential for a longer flight in conditions with more thermals. I’m really hoping to get a local flight in per week. It’s really helped me have a positive outlook knowing I have this in my backyard now.