Joe told him to come anyway as there was plenty of spare gear for him to use. The Greblomobile led a parade of three trucks out of the Sylmar LZ about 8:30 am with a load of H2s – some newly minted and others well on their way to being H3s. Coming along for the adventure were Joe Greblo, Erwin McDonald, Tom Casper, Tommy Austin, Steve Murillo, Brandon Peterson, Matt Hart, Bill Brick, Mike Ivey, and BJ Strand (Mr. XC). Others tagging along for the fun were Richard, Malury, Eric, Ken, and Fredrick (FKA Freddy). Adam Newman and Ridgecrest Tony & wife were to meet us at the Garlock LZ. Rumor was that some Crestline pilots were going to join us turned out to be just that – a rumor. Guess the drive was too far. 
After a quick stop for a junk food breakfast in Mojave we arrived at the Garlock LZ (2,000’ msl) and Joe proceeded to provide a detailed briefing of the flying site. Wind streamers were setup and we then headed up the hill. Launch was sunny and reasonably comfortable ~ 50 degrees.
Tony launched first about 1:15 pm. Between what appeared to be weak and spotty lift and being on a new glider the flight was an extended sledder. A few of the H2s launched next and generally met the same fate. I launched about 1:50 and quickly climbed to 500’ over (launch ~ 4,800’), then it was a slow painful decent to what appeared to be another extended sledder. I found weak lift at 3,000’ and worked it like my flight depended on it – it did. In the mean time I saw that Malury had launched and was desperately looking for life – no avail – yet another sledder. Ten minutes of scratching rewarded me with a net climb of 400’, but this allowed me to move to another knob where my averager went to 400’+ and was quickly over 5,000’. I looked up and saw that many more pilots had launched and most were being rewarded with above launch altitudes. The lift had turned on.
The next hour was easy street – lift was nearly everywhere.
I heard that Adam and Ken topped out about 7,400’ – at a balmy 37 degrees. Many of the pilots got flights over an hour – flight duration was limited by each pilot’s tolerance to the cold. By 3:30 pm the lift seemed to be shutting down and a parade of pilots was congregating in the airspace around the LZ. As I waited my turn I found some light lift and started to slowly climb. Another pilot (Brandon ?) joined me – the challenge was on (at least in my mind). We circled and circled – I was higher, then he was higher, then me, then him… Finally, the pilot lost it (or gave up) and landed – I had WON! Upon landing Joe informed me that my hard fought victory had been over a H2 that had just finished his supervised flights! 
Hey – a win is a win.Many of the pilots that had launched early loaded up and went back for a second flight. Unfortunately, by the time they launched the lift had started to weaken. Second flights were less than 30 minutes – but no one was complaining.
A stop for dinner in Mojave provided an opportunity for the group to exaggerate their respective accomplishments (except me of course) before continuing on back to Sylmar.
