Most pilots have heard of the Owens Valley. On top of the hill or in the bar, when stories of epic sites are being tossed around, someone will mention the Owens with its big air and long cross country flights. He'll also tell of booming thermals, hang gliders snapped to bits, and people bailing out of their harnesses in strong winds. These stories are all second hand because that person has never been there himself. In fact not too many people have, and so the Owens is talked about with a distant reverence. It has become a fabled place, like the place where your granddad trudged 10 miles through the snow uphill both ways; it makes a good story, but it doesn't seem quite real.