Valle del Cauca Hike and Fly Attempt

Just before leving of Colombia we wanted to attempt a last thing; cover some distance over a few days using our gliders and our legs. The best place to do that was the Valle del Cauca due to number of spots and the good flying conditions.

Our plan was to go from Florida (a town just east of Cali) to Ansermanuevo (a flying site north of the valle that we visited 2 weeks before) over 5 days. A total of 200kms. This route was challenging as in this season the wind can be very strong and most of the time North to South, so opposed to our route.

Day 1:

We got to Florida and met the local pilot and site administrator Adrian Villa. We had a nice evening recognition flight dodging the rain drops.

Geo and his new chauffeur

The view from take off

Action Shot

Glider and Campesino

Flying over Florida

Day 2:

That was the first day of the hike and fly. We got to take off with not much hope looking at a black sky giving us a few drops. Finally we took off with the menacing sky and managed to get a small but challenging flight in the good direction (about 10km) The track .

Menacing Sky

Sun Spot: Let's go

Not many options

Landing Zone

Just when we landed the sky seem to open up a little so maybe we could have done a bit more but we were already happy to have left Florida and started the route with such flying conditions.

The next stop was the spot of Piedechinche. We did the biggest part of the way by bus and finally did the climb to the site by foot in order to get a bit of walking in! It is really possible to never walk if you put together the great transport system and the help from locals.

View of the valley climbing to Piedechinche

Day 3:

After a great night close to take off in Piedechinche we were ready to fly some distance. But the weather decided differently. The whole day was cloudy, "frio" as they call it. So no distance was possible. We had a few flights includng a pleasant evening flight and decided to wait for the next day for better weather.

At home in Piedechinche

Take off at Piedechinche

View at the landing

Day 4:

Another day of waiting on take off with no great conditions. This is the joy of hike and fly and more generally paragliding. You can't always be lucky and have great weather. 

So we decided to completely change our plan and to head by bus to Roldanillo further north in order to fly back south towards Cali. 

Day 5:

The famous flying site of Roldanillo didn't disappoint us. We could see friencly cumulus from 9 in the morning and going up to take off the sky was only getting better. We "only" had to do it!

Going up to take off

Getting ready with promising sky!

We set off towards the southg quite quickly flying together through clouds and over valleys. After the few days of bad weather it was a great feeling to get some proper flying!

Geo following me out of the cloud

After two valleys Geo landed due to difficult conditions and one bad decision that got him grounded near powerlines. An interesting landing I have heard :) .

I continued my route towards the south. On the way I found a nice ridge on which I landed for a pipi stop. It is always much easier to fly with the mind and the body free of this kind of inconvenience.

Nice stop

Then I found myself stuck with strong head winds (no luck, the only day with a southerly). And fought in broken lift a bit lee side.  Suddenly I found a big thermal really close to the ground that got me back up to 2700m.

Fighting against the wind

Then I went for the valley crossing that was easier than I thought it will be.

Valley crossing looking at the north

I got to Tulua on the other side of the Valley where I got litteraly escorted by some birds for a good while. It was great as they showed me the thermal and the best gliding routes.

Escort

Getting north of Tulua I did a super low save at about 50m above ground. The thermal got me once again at 2700m and I continued my route into wind towards the south.

Crossng Valley north of Tulua

I did continue for a little bit more over the mountains but the wind was getting strong and the thermals scarce. I finally landed after another 4:20 hours of flight and 60 km done in the good direction.

The flight

Happy Pilot

Conclusion:

We didn't manage to do a hike and fly as such. We haven't been helped much by the weather conditions and the great transport system. But overall we had a great few days of wandering through the Valle del Cauca met some cool pilots and tested our equipment for this type of trip (it is hard to keep it light!).