Saturday, July 04, 2009
Adventures with Tiger
My paragliding pilot contacted me yesterday morning to ask if I wanted to go on a 1:00 flight with him. I thought it would be fun to hike up to the top of Tiger Mountain this time. I called Grammy. She had already gone on a 4.5 mile walk that morning, but didn't want to miss on the opportunity. We didn't have much prep time, but I did note that the hike is over 3 miles with 2,000 feet elevation change. I asked which kids wanted to go, but told Mason that I was gonna need him to greet me at my landing. The other three, Cheyenne, Lane and Kenzie, all were eager to go. I reiterated that this wasn't like a hike that they've been on before - this was a bit more serious. Unable to phase them, we set off about 11:45. I had to meet my pilot on the top at 1:00.
Kenzie, Lane and Cheyenne took off like a shot. Mom and I paced ourselves a bit more leisurely. Eventually we spotted Cheyenne ahead, who had let the the two little balls of young energy continue their quick ascent. After a mile or so, I did a time check and realized that I needed to pick up the pace, so I left Cheyenne and my mom while I tried to regain some ground. As I saw people coming down I would occasionally ask if they had seen two kids ahead. They would say "yes," and I would continue. At one point I wondered what I would do if they started saying "no." Eventually we met at the summit, found my pilot, and then stalled until mom and Cheyenne arrived. I have to say, I was pretty proud of my mom - she put in over 7 miles in one morning, including a pretty stiff 3 miles up.
They all sat hillside while I took off, then they took the shuttle down, which seems to be the highlight of the day for the kids. They got to ride in an open bed truck with no seat belts!
Here's a picture from the air with our landing gear in view.
And here's a video of it:
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