January 2011
Monthly Archive
Sunday, 9th January 2011
Geoff 09 Jan 2011 | : Boring stuff, Work
Geoff writes: a grey day, there was an outside chance it was soarable, but we decided to stay in and do some work, and Judith had to get the next LMSC newsletter out. It did spit a bit with rain too at times, so even if it had been flyable, it would probably not have been that interesting.
Next week, though, is looking nice, with lighter winds, and a little less warm, so the skiing could be ok.
Saturday, 8th January 2011
Judith 09 Jan 2011 | : Trying, but failing, to fly, Walking
The Parapent Bellmunt group announced a Breakfast & Fly day, starting with refreshments at the monastery at 11am. Having looked at the weather, I thought it would be far too windy, but we decided to head out anyway and go walking if flying wasn’t a possiblity. It became clear as soon as we opened the door that we probably wouldn’t fly today, but you never know… Bellmunt is in a different valley system after all.
We got there later than expected. On the ground in Torrello the wind was less, but the flags were showing it too far off to the west. At the landing field it was top end and predictably, it was blown out at the top. We decided to do a walk along the spine of the ridge, then drop down into the valley behind and then have a steep walk back up to the monastery. With temperatures at the coast predicted to be 20°C, it was pleasantly warm even at 1250m and we were soon shedding jackets and jumpers. I was glad it’s been dry for a while. Some of the path goes over slippy stones right on the edge. Well, both edges… it not so much a spine back as a razor back. Big drops either side if you slip.
We had a picnic at the end of the ridge in the sunshine and then dropped down into the shady north side. The walk took about three hours and we had a coffee in the monastery on our return. It was still far too windy to fly…
Friday, 7th January 2011
Judith 08 Jan 2011 | : Walking
Today was the first day our season pass was valid again after the Christmas holidays and we were itching to go. However, once we checked the forecast and the snow report again, our enthusiasm shrank to nothing. Here the forecast was 18°C and in the mountains 8° to 13°C. Masella was saying that the snow was ‘humid’ and they usually talk the conditions up. In the end, we decided not to go, as there were also strong winds forecast, which would probably close the higher runs, leaving us stuggling in the slush at the bottom.
Since flying was also out of the question, we decided to head to the coast and have a walk round Aiguamolls. It’s a marsh land nature reserve home to some 327 species of animals. It’s especially good for birds. During the migration season, thousands of birds stop off, but there are also a lot that stay for the winter. I have something of a checkered history as far as birdwatching is concerned. As a child, my parents used to drag me (often kicking and screaming) on ‘walks’, which were actually a few steps and then ages standing around while they did some twitching, then a few more steps before the process was repeated. My sister showed some interest and was rewarded with her own set of binoculars, so I had to endure all three of them gawking while I sulked. Any attempts to get me interested, like asking me to identify an easy bird like a pigeon or a sparrow would elicit the same answer: “It’s an American eagle!”. I’m sure there were times my parents considered giving me up for adoption.
We last went to Aiguamolls about 11 years ago with my parents and they were amazed when a whole load of flamingos came and paraded right outside the hide for us. They were convinced that my life-long resentment of our feathered friends had the same effect that I have on cats. I’m allergic, so obviously every cat comes and sits on me, regardless of how much I try to fight the damn things off. Anyway, being a pilot, I have developed far more of an interest in birds and am now quite good at identiflying at least the ones we fly with. And the information office finally found a way to really interest me in bird-watching… they gave me a picture card and I could tick them off!
So we went to Aiguamolls in the hope of seeing some flamingos and to have a nice walk too. We had chosen the circluar walk right round, but it was closed part way due to flooding. We went to the first hide, but saw only storks and a variety of ducks – no flamingos. We walked for 4km to the beach, looking in all the hides on the way, and saw all sorts, but it was only on the way back in the last hide we decided to look in that we saw a flock of 29 flamingos, some still with a little pink colouring. They were mostly standing around on one leg, with their necks curled back and their head stuck under a wing snoozing. Still, it was amazing to see them.
After, we went to Castelló de Empúries for a snoop around and a sandwich.
Thursday, 6th January 2011
There was a lot of weather kicking about in Europe today. Here is was pretty pedestrian – grey and uninspiring, but no rain or wind. We worked and things kept going wrong. Sometimes you just have one of those days…
Wednesday, 5th January 2011
Judith 06 Jan 2011 | : Party, party, party..., Trying, but failing, to fly
The forecast was very contradictory today. Meteocat was forecasting for the holiday (talking the weather up), and promised sunshine during the afternoon. However, the synoptic promised a warm front during the day. Mike was keen to give it a try, and also wanted to pass on a glider to me, so we decided to give it a go. Plan A was to go to Sant Pere de Rodes, which was sunny in the morning, but an 11am look at the web cams showed grey cloud and not even a single shadow on the ground. No shadow = no thermals. El Mont had some low cloud sitting at its base, but we were confident it would burn off. Contrary to the forecast, there was blue sky from here to the high Pyrenees. Mike crossed the border from France (which was in fog), and said the coast was brightish. At that point the top of El Mont became visible, so we decided to go there.
As we drove up, it became increasingly cloudy and we drove through a layer of the stuff. On reaching the summit, the launch was clagged in, but over on the north side it was mostly clear, with the cloud lying beneath us. The mountains to the north were visible, with Canigó, at the base of which Mike lives, looking only a few km away.
It looked like it could clear, so a walk around, bit of weeding the launch and a pomegranate later, we were still waiting. At 2.30pm the wind was picking up, the cloud was getting thicker and we got hungry, so we decided to bin the day and have a sandwich in sunny Besalú. What we didn’t realise was that the cloud had filled in below us and far from being sunny, it had developed into a grey, murky day.
Mike’s never been to Besalú and we nearly got him to attempt the climb up to the high chairs on the wall, but then we chickened out and got him to stop. A nice sandwich later we said our farewells, hoping for a better day soon.
It’s Reyes Magos here today, so in the evening the three wise men came on horseback in a procession to our village, followed by a truck full of presents for the kids. It’s the Spanish Christmas, so all the kids go crazy. And actually it’s quite nice for the big kids too…
Tuesday, 4th January 2011
Geoff writes: forecast was for it to get cloudier during the day, but they got the timing wrong, it started off cloudy, but then got sunnier. After a morning of work, we decided to give Santa Brigida a try. The wind machines were giving SE, and it seemed like a good bet. And the flying was very pleasant. A bit thermic, wind just right, but not mindless soaring, sometimes it would switch off and we had to work hard to stay up. It was just the two of us, since most of the mid week flyers seem to be less and less available – a shame really.
Anyway, it was a fun day, well worth the trip out. A bit cold – very cold actually – though the forecast for Friday is 19C. Which is great in one sense, but not that good for skiing, which we had planned to do then. We’ll see, will probably go anyway.
Monday, 3rd January 2011
Geoff 03 Jan 2011 | : Trying, but failing, to fly
Geoff writes: a nice sunny day, we did some work this morning then went out to fly. The forecast was good, and, when we got to Santa Brigida, the wind was on the hill, in spite of being north almost all the way there. But it was just a bit too strong and gusty (and thermic), and didn’t seem like it would be much fun. We waited a while, confident it would eventually drop, but got bored after an hour, and came home to finish off some work.