Parawaiting at Hermanus

Come on wind!!!

Launch Near Palm Springs (ParaglidingEarth.com)

GPS coordinates :	take off : 34°11'9" (34.1861)N; 116°13'1" (116.217)W - Elevation : 791 m. landing : 34°11'7" (34.1854)N; 116°13'11" (116.22)W - Elevation : 727 m.
Take off :	na.
Landing :	na.
Going there :	Find downtown Joshua Tree, and zero out your trip-meter at the intersection of Hwy 62 and Park Blvd. 3.9 miles later turn left on Sunfair Rd. 7.9 miles, turn right onto dirt road, just past a large river rock house. The road is unmarked but GPS mapping lists it as Aberdeen Dr. Follow this east until the first jog to the right. Take the jog and stay on the most obvious dirt track out of the weeds and onto the lake bed. You will generally be trending south east towards the southern end of the ridge, where the launch and LZ are. Here you'll find a thin metal pole to attach streamers, and you'll find a large pile of trash against the hill. Notice all the bullet holes in the trash. Be careful on a weekend, this shooting gallery is DIRECTLY below launch. If you arrive to find shooting, kindly ask them to cease and move elsewhere. They're are millions of places further to the south for shooting. Only once did we get a guy who thought he owned the world. Most shooters think flying is cool, and will move without complaint. Remember, ricochet flight paths are not restricted to vertical travel. From the LZ, drive around the southern end of the ridge and stay left on all roads. Go to 4X4 whenever you want. Note that the area behind the ridge is fairly flat with large open areas. I suppose if one was high enough a landing could be made here. It's always out of the rotor. Find the road going up and left behind launch, and travel carefully. The road is pretty beat.
Comments :	George Zelenz, 2006/2/28: Word of Caution: The Coyote Dry Lake ridge site is very unforgiving. Lots of injuries and near-fatal crashes have occured even among experienced pilots. I'm not one to talk, but I would say that 99% of those were due to poor judgement at launch. Sometimes the wind goes from flaccid to honking in short order and with little or no warning. Single surface aircraft need to be especially picky about wind speed. Pilot beware. On the positive side, in Spring and Fall when the winds are generally less consistently ferocious, the ridge is a really cool place to fly. About 4 miles long with only one gap to jump, you can get a lot of air time. The LZ is a 4 mile wide and 6 mile long dry lake bed. If you can't hit it, god help you. The ridge has been flown since at least 1976. The ridge and dry lake are BLM land, and currently there is no restriction for flying.
Weather hazards :	na.
Flight regulation :	na.
People to contact :	George Zelenz 760-366-3015 Mike Lopez 619-807-5725