Fly / fishing

With the stable high pressure ruling out anything but an extended top to bottom, Dan and I set off for a mini vol biv into the Barot valley. Dan was keen to catch some trout; I was keen to eat them.

We hiked along and up to the ridge behind the usual takeoff, hoping to find a clearing amongst the trees we could glide down into the valley behind. We didn't find many options; the best being a south facing takeoff, a short glide down the ridge and then a dive over the back at a lower point of the ridge.

We prepared ourselves and Dan took off first, scraping through a gap in the trees and then away to the left and out of sight. The earlier breeze had died and the air was decidedly calm. I waited for a breeze, a thermal, anything to give a wee bump to help clear the ridge. Nothing promising materialised and then Dan came over the radio... "Probably best to give it a miss".

Dan sneaks through the paraglider shaped gap in the trees

He'd landed on the top clearing down the ridge. He probably could have made it over after catching a small thermal on the way, but didn't fancy my chances. We packed up and hiked down the other side instead. A pretty rough route in the end and a painful one for me: my back in worse shape than I'd wanted to admit after my abrupt landing the week before.

Descending into the valley

With the daylight fading Dan ran ahead to have a chance of catching our dinner. We passed through a somewhat surprised small village and without the time to be choosy, found a spot to camp out in what was a cool and damp part of the valley. We got a mighty fire going (probably burning the locals winter fuel supply). My "guaranteed" fish supper sadly didn't materialise but at least we'd brought some noodles just in case.

We bivvied out under the stars; Dan looking cosy in his prototype bivvy-glider bag. I made do with a thin sleeping bag and my glider over the top. It was a cold night, and a frozen start to the next day, but I'd been surprisingly warm enough; the glider providing an incredible amount of insulation.

I was somewhat jealous of Dan's setup as I tried to dry out my frosted glider and pack up, while Dan simply zipped up and was ready to go.

A frosty start

We weren't in the best place for fish so headed down the valley towards Barot, ending up in a taxi with a very enthusiastic driver and pumping tunes. He was determined to find us the best fishing spot. First option: the fish farm. After a tour of the farm we managed to explain it wasn't quite what we were after so he drove us up the side valley and dropped us off river-side with a big smile and a thumbs up.

Waiting for a bus that wasn't coming

It looked promising and with a few hours of the afternoon left Dan got to work while I had a little explore. Thankfully Dan managed a couple of trout to supplement our dinner that night and we enjoyed them steamed over the fire in wraps of damp newspaper.

Dan at work

A 4x4 and a hike got us back up on the ridge the next day and we endeavoured to take off from the lower clearing we'd found before.

Amused locals on our hike up

With no wind to help it was a tricky place to takeoff from. With a small rustle of wind I went for it but had to sprint hard to get the glider up and still running, was forced to swerve around the rapidly encroaching trees to make the clearing. I felt something snag my lines but kept going and was clear and away.

Looking north on the take-off

looking back at the take-off

A little close for comfort! Dan was all set to be picking me out the trees.

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