4th of July Trip to Hull Mtn CA

[kyardley]

We're thinking about a trip to Hull Mtn instead of Hurricane Utah on the 4th of July. Hull Mtn rises at the north end of Lake Pillsbury in Mendocino County, about 150 miles north of San Francisco. Camping is in developed sites in the trees around the lake at 1,900 AGL; Peak at 2,833 AGL with several launches along the road on the way up. LZ is right at the bottom of the mountain alongside the gravel air strip at north end of the lake and very close to one camp site. Activities include hiking, fishing, off-roading.

Google "Hull Mountain in California" for in-air hang gliding pictures and additional information. This is NOT a school-sponsored trip and will be a new site for everyone. Perhaps some pilots from the Sonoma club will be around for local insight.

Please provide your email if you're interested so I can keep you informed.

Katherine

[kyardley]

Hull Mtn is actually 6,873' MSL ( I was reading the clean prominence part of the description) and camping is at 1,900 MSL (not AGL). Sounds a lot more like a mountain when I give the real altitude!

[Xander]

I am definitely interested, Katherine. What dates were you planning on flying Hull Mtn? I would also like to spend a day at Fort Funston if it works out.

The dates of that weekend are:
Friday, July 2
Saturday, July 3
Sunday, July 4
Monday, July5

-Alex W.

[kyardley]

Alex:

There are no reservations accepted in the campgrounds at Lake Pillsbury so I don't have a good feel for when we'd need to be there to stake out some space. Prelim guess is we'd be there Friday pm (7/2) and leave Mon (7/5).
Flying could be Sat-Mon.

Please send me your email so I can put you on distribution for details as we develop them.

[chadness]

Andrea and I would like to go on this too. Sounds like a great place to fly and to spend the holiday weekend. New sites are always a bunch of fun. Hopefully we won't have any vacation issues but we would plan to head up on Thur, July 1st.

[Steve90266]

Katherine, my wife and I would be interested in either trip, Hurricane or Hull Mountain. I agree with Alex, if we could fit in a flight at Ft. Funston, that would be icing on the cake, but of course, logistics may not allow this.

Thanks for putting the trip together. I look forward to hearing what the group decides to do.


Steve Murillo

[Steve90266]

Katherine, my wife and I would be interested in either trip, Hurricane or Hull Mountain. I agree with Alex, if we could fit in a flight at Ft. Funston, that would be icing on the cake, but of course, logistics may not allow this.

Thanks for putting the trip together. I look forward to hearing what the group decides to do.


Steve Murillo

[kyardley]

All Interested Pilots and Friends:
Please call me at 818 / 416 - 0136 to talk about your Hull Mtn plans. I will be going up 7/1 to secure campsites and need to know our group size. Google "Gravelly Valley Airport, Potter Valley 95469" for trip details. We'll try to get space at Oak Flat campground, close by airstrip LZ.

This is NOT a school sponsored trip and will be a completely new area for most of us. We'll certainly have fun and we could have some adventures too. There's swimming, fishing, biking, boating, flying, off-road fun and flying.

Please contact me soonest with your plans. Thanks.
Katherine

[kyardley]

All Interested Pilots and Friends:
Please call me at 818 - 416 - 0136 to talk about your Hull Mtn plans. I will be going up Jul01 to secure campsites and need to know our group size. Google "Gravelly Valley Airport, Potter Valley 95469" for trip details. We'll try to get space at Oak Flat campground, close by airstrip LZ.

This is NOT a school sponsored trip and will be a completely new area for most of us. We'll certainly have fun and we could have some adventures too. There's swimming, fishing, biking, boating, flying, off-road fun and flying.

Please contact me soonest with your plans. Thanks.
Katherine

[Ken Andrews]

While I've been terribly slow making decisions, I'll be there! My current plan is to drive up on Thursday, July 1 in one long day. However, it's a whole lot of miles (509 of them, according to Google), so maybe I'll adjust that if common sense prevails. Friday and Saturday will be camping and flying days at Hull. On Sunday, there's a choice. If Hull is the place to be, I'll fly there another day, and drive home on Monday. Alternatively, if my Hull aspirations are fulfilled in the first couple days, I'd likely drive to San Francisco on Sunday, fly at Fort Funston, camp somewhere to the south that night, and drive back to Sylmar on Monday. The San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area looks to be about the right place to spend the night, but finding a campsite there on the Fourth of July may be a challenge.

I would welcome company if anyone would care to share the ride!

[Steve90266]

Ken, I like your idea to include Funston! I am going to get the final decision this morning from the boss and let Kathryn know. Hopefully my wife Pat will give this trip her approval and we will attend. Back to you guys in a bit!

[Steve90266]

Kathryn, Pat and I are in. You may reach me on my cell at 310-266-4154. Pat's cell is 310-227-5252, though I will be the primary.

In the event of an emergency, my brother-in-law Gordon may be reached at 562-900-0493.

[JD]

This just came in from a good friend of mine who mainly lives and flies in NorCcal

Hi Jonathan,

I was looking at the Sylmar BB and noticed that a group of SoCal pilots are going to Hull Mountain for the July 4th holiday.

http://shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2061

Knowing that site well, I have some advice for them:

While Hull is generally a great place to fly, the holiday weekends bring out an amazing number of yayhoos. The area around Lake Pillsbury will be thick with gun-blastin', music-blarin', truck-roarin' drunken revelry until nearly dawn every night. They'll start up again at the crack of dawn. It's amazing how many idiots will be packed into a relatively remote area.

The local pilots tend to camp on the mountain, where it will be considerably quieter. Also note that there aren't really any stores or gas stations in the vicinity, so be sure to bring in everything you'll need for the stay, including water. Cell service is very unlikely. 4WD vehicles with good clearance are needed. The road to launch is not bad for the most part, but there are a few heavily rutted areas that require more traction and clearance.

I'm not trying to dissuade pilots from flying there, but awareness of the site will help alot. Seeking out the local pilots is a very good idea:
http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/

[Steve90266]

Well that does it. Red necks at a lake campsite? Unheard of. Count me in.

[Steve90266]

Great trip Kathryn!

Pat and I had a wonderful time. The flying was great, the people were great, and the camp site was over the top unbelievably great! What a picturesque setting! Thanks for organizing the trip! Let's do it again next year!