Marvelous March

So much flying so far this month and all good quality thermic stuff.
Spring, here in Catalunya, has well and truly sprung with thermals topping out at 7m/s (....and sink to match at times!) A grand day at Puig D'Afrou with Judith and Geoff last week gave me the opportunity to get up close & personal with some playful vultures: given my track record with raptors it was a relief that they were far more interested in playing with each other and not with me. The valley wind was pretty strong and approaching Les Planes D'Hostoles I saw birds circling so it seemed like the perfect escape to higher altitudes. Even though there was certainly a reasonable, if somewhat ragged, thermal the birds were just using it to get height to lock talons and plummet towards the trees. Times like this, climbing and circling with the beasties who really belong where we just play makes paragliding the special sport that it is. Typically, I got so distracted by them that I forgot about flying and found myself drifted too far back into the forest that the planned landing options were diminishing and required full-speed and trimmers open to put myself in line for a nice landing.
Note to self: remember that you don't have the speed and glide of a flapping vulture into wind!