Arriving in Bishop at 12:30 am, we were rather upset to find that ALL the local hotels were completely booked. Since we had decided to "rough it" and get a hotel room, we did not even bring a blanket. After driving back to Big Pine to make sure all their hotels were booked full as well, we drove back and asked around at a couple of Bishop's motels and were able to rent a couple of blankets!
     Lee Anne slept in the car, carefully placing her articles of clothing over her body to avoid the cold. She could have done what Ian and I did - pulled out our paragliders and slept in them! Early the next morning we were soaking our bones at the hot springs, watching the sun rise over Black Mountain. After a hearty pilot's breakfast at the Airport, we headed for Flynn's for some early morning sledders. Everyone got to fly while I drove back down, then it was off to Paiute for the midday flight.
     Kari and her group were at launch, waiting for the perfect conditions to launch. The wind was light from the north, so a trip down the valley looked like the call. Soon, Eric and I suited up and launched in the tandem. The air was a bit feisty with what felt like rotor from the north, so I headed out to the valley where we could circle more comfortably. Out in front, we snagged a light thermal over the town and held on for all we could. Soon we were climbing more comfortably and ended up just above launch altitude before it dissipated. Heading down the highway, we caught a few other light thermals before landing near Laws for some cold liquids.
     Back to Flynn's again after rescuing Dana and Kate from Paiute (the wind had gotten out of hand right as Dana got set up). Everyone got to fly again in the sweet glass-off air above Bishop. Marc top landed, got me, then we took everyone back to launch for another flight before the wind went catabatic.
     Sunday looked really windy, so most everyone went hiking at Long Lake, but about ten minutes after they left, the north wind began to subside, so off to launch Lee Anne and I went. All in all, I had two real nice flights and a tandem with Lee Anne before we headed home. As we left, the group of pilots with Kari were reporting altitudes of 11,600 ft over Black Mountain. It seems we landed a bit early...