It was a wave and thermal day. After thermaling to 12,500 ft or so, I went down to Carson Valley, where climbed to 18,000 ft in a wave. Then I headed south east to Pine Nuts mountains, and caught another wave behind Mt. Siegel. I climbed back to 18,000 ft again, and headed further east to cloud streets east of Mt. Hawthorne. There, I could use some clouds, but they already started to dissipate, and I was only able to maintain 15,000 - 16,000 ft range. It was almost 4pm then, so I decided to head back. I was hoping to hit another wave behind Mt. Hawthorne, but there wasn't one. I headed back further west, and came down to 12,000 ft or so over Hilton Ranch. I thought I might land on Hilton Rance, but there I hit a good consistent wave despite the relatively low hills west of Hilton Ranch. I was able to go back to 18,000 ft again. With Truckee barely in the glide range, I headed straight to Truckee, hit some sink after passing Pine Nuts mountains, and hit another wave near Washer Lake. But stupidly, I didn't climb high enough there. I started my final glide when my computer showed a 2,000 ft margin on Brockway pass, but as soon as I came over Sergio's elevator, I hit a great sink and also was welcomed by an increased head wind. Being not able to see Brockway due to the sunset, I decided to turn back to Carson valley, where my hope to use the wave I hit earlier was crashed. I landed on Carson City airport around 6pm. Later, I heard from Buzz (11W) that he started his finale glide from Carson City at 17,000 ft, and lost 5,000 ft before he reached Truckee.


Clouds 13 miles east of Hawthorne