. After the usual Greblo site briefing (time measured in hours not minutes 
) we headed up to launch. Nothing special except the Greblomobile doesn’t have 4-low so on the steepest section everyone got out of the car to reduce the load.Everyone got set up and then the waiting started (better early than to be late). Finally, about 1:45PM the first pilot launched and found lift where Joe told him to look (this is why you should always listen to Joe)
. I launched third and also followed Joe’s instructions. The first thermal got me to ~5,500’ – or about 700’ over launch. Each subsequent thermal got stronger and topped out higher with the H2s and H3s reaching 8K+. Welcome to Garlock!I played around waiting for Dave, Zack, Ken and Joe to all get in the air. Once in air Dave & Zack said they decided to stick with the group and stay in the area rather than going XC. Ken & I traded significant altitude positions several times before Joe said he also was going to stay in the area. It was now just Ken & I. 48 minutes into the flight and at 5,100’ I looked up and saw a few H2s at 7K and stepped into the next elevator (house thermal) to 8,700’ and told Ken I was heading down-range. Ken was going also but needed to fuel up the tank. I flew slowly Eastward (hoping Ken would catch me) and seven miles from launch I was down to 6,400’ wondering if the “junk yard� was working today. Sure enough it was. I slowly turned in the light to moderate lift – all the while drifting to the East. Three miles of drift and 16 minutes of turning got me to 12,100’ at the radar dome – it was a balmy 52 degrees and I was only wearing a short-sleeve t-shirt. As I continued East the sink was strong on the down-slope of the radar dome and across the flat terrain. I decided to head over the little “bumps� on the North side of road near the train track crossings. At 8,600’ and 13 miles from launch I found light lift. Again, slow turns resulted in 1.5 miles of drift and topping out at 9,500’. Now I headed ENE towards the more pronounced hills assuming that there was a greater chance of finding lift there rather than over the flat terrain. Yet again, light lift. 25 minutes of near continuous circling got me nearly 7 more miles and topped out at 11,200’. I was now only 13 miles from goal (Trona airport) so time to wrap things up. I arrived at nearly 7K – 5K+ agl. I landed, moved into the shade and waited for Ken who arrived about 20 minutes later. My airtime was 2:55 but only 1:45 to make the 40 miles to Trona. Ken’s airtime was nearly 3:00 and generally had lower altitudes.
Darrell got slightly lost and Ken & I thought, for a while, that we might be spending the night in Trona
. Upon Darrell’s arrival we loaded up, said thanks and goodbye to our guests at the Trona airport and headed back to SHGA
