Most Bay Area pilots are quite familiar with Potato Hill. Itís the little thermal site only three and a half hours north of San Francisco, flown regularly by paragliders for about the last seven years. When I first heard of it a longtime hg/pg pilot was saying what a great secret site it was. He then proceeded to show us how to get there on the map. A few months later when a small group of us started going there fairly regularly, he wished that heíd kept the secret to himself.

Potato Hill is located three and one-half hours from Pacifica. It seems that no matter how fast I drive, I always arrive at the same time. The first two hours are on the highway until you take the Maxwell exit. Itís a good idea to get gas in Maxwell as you do not want to run out of gas while at Potato Hill. The last hour is spent winding around on the narrow road that takes you west from Route 5 and gets you into the hills. It is fairly scenic but it takes a bit.

Overall I think itís fair to say that Potato Hill provides consistently good thermal conditions. It is less intimidating and erratic than some other sites like Diablo (not to mention that you do not need a P4 to fly at Potato Hill). Due to its orientation it becomes flyable early in the day. The turnaround is relatively fast, the road is pretty good, and the glide isnít too bad. It also has a cross country route which has been the starting point for a number of pilots in their XC careers. And, itís an easy weekend trip, or even a day trip for the ambitious..

So what do you need to know when you first go there?

1. The launch at Potato Hill faces East (actually I think itís Northeast). This means that you can fly in the morning because as the sun comes up, it warms the face of the hill below launch. I have launched as early as 8:30 a.m. once in July and got up to 800 fpm. Of course on a day like that, you might not want to be flying by noon!

1. Launch is at about 3400í. The LZ is at 1700í. (Therefore, the vertical is also 1700í.) The glide is not too bad, but there is a small rise before you get to the LZ so sometimes you donít make it.

1. Launch is rather small so only one wing can be fully spread out at a time. Because of this, pilots should organize themselves, get dressed, put varios, etc. on before laying out their wings. Otherwise the other pilots have to wait too long to go. Also, if you blow a couple of launch attempts, itís good etiquette to let the next person go while you gather your thoughts and determine what you did wrong. (Many pilots ascribe to the idea that one should leave oneís harness hooked up to the wing. This makes setup time faster and more efficient.)

1. From launch you generally want to stay away from the deep canyons to the north and south of launch, unless you are well above launch. If you are at launch level or below, do not work yourself back deep into the canyons as sometimes it is hard to get out again. These areas are mostly trees so you donít want to sink out there. If you are well above launch then itís fine to track back, as long as you can get back out on a glide and there isnít a big headwind. One pilot sank out way back of launch and spent several hours trying to get out of the brush, including having to crawl part of his way out. No mean feat with a paraglider.

1. When you launch, be careful not to linger too long if you are not finding lift. The upper part of Potato Hill is mostly trees so if you sink out here, youíre likely to be hugging a tree. Also, if you get too low to the ground at the beginning of your flight, you may not make the LZ because you need to clear to rise before the LZ.

1. House thermals: People say that thereís a house thermal down the ridge straight in front of launch. In my experience this is a mediocre thermal, not one that can be counted on to work. Launch itself is certainly a house thermal location. I often turn right (south) immediately after launching and work right next to launch. But if you donít catch this thermal right away, then you need to move out as you donít have that much ground clearance. The house thermal that seems to be most consistent is to the southeast of launch, about halfway between launch and the LZ. You see a turnout in the paved road where there is a bare spot on the uphill side of a little rise. This year there are hay bales stacked in this turnout. This area often works well as the day heats up. If you find zero sink here, you can hang out until it turns into lift.

 

2. Making the LZ. The LZ is a bit of a glide from launch (maybe 4 or 5 to 1) and there is a rise before you get to the LZ. When there is a significant headwind, slower or lightly loaded wings often donít make it to the LZ. (Or if you linger too long and get too low.) There are a lot of places to land on top of the small rise. It is mostly small bushes which are annoying if your wing gets caught in them, but you can land reasonably easily in some of the bare spots. To avoid being rotored, youíd prefer to land on the top of the rise rather than behind it.

1. The LZ itself is an irregular shape and has some big trees in the middle. This means that you generally land on the east side of the trees (to avoid coming down in their shadow and possibly getting rotored). While the LZ is not overly small, I have seen several people overshoot because it can get hot and poppy. At the last minute you can get popped into the air so you need to be careful and consider using Ears if necessary.

1. A basic flight plan for the newer pilot is to have a clean, controlled launch, fly straight out toward the LZ, possibly slowing down if you find lift but not lingering to work small stuff, and having a good landing in the LZ. This introduces you to the launch, the terrain of the hill, the glide and the LZ. Subsequent flights can include looking for lift over the main house thermal area and also exploring the valley, noting where there is lift and sink. Working the hill close to launch can probably wait until you have had a number of other flights where you work lift that is more out in the open with greater clearance.

1. Potato Hill has nice flying in the Spring and Fall. In the Spring you can have some really nice conditions with lots of lift but not that turbulent. Weíve been there on somewhat overcast days when the lift was smooth and very widespread so gliders were up everywhere. Same with the Fall, except the lift seems a bit less in general. During the Fall, you can often take two or three flights during the day because the conditions donít get overly strong. The temperatures midday in Spring and Fall are usually warm, peaking at high 70s or maybe even 80. Evenings cool off quite a bit.

1. Potato Hill has great flying in the Summer. But you do need to be cautious about turbulence and a hot LZ. Generally in the Summer it is wise to launch fairly early when mild cycles are coming up. Generally most recreational pilots donít launch mid-afternoon because it can be very strong and rowdy. In the Summer, a mid-morning (like 10:00 or 11:00 a.m) flight can be excellent with plenty of lift but not too much to get down after say a one-hour flight. You often will get a couple of thousand over launch. In Summer the temperatures can get quite hot - the LZ can be over 100. The evenings cool down, but sometimes not enough to make it really comfortable.

1. Evening flying varies. As weíve seen recently, there are evenings when the prevailing winds do not kick in and pilots have launched and skyed out in very smooth, lifty air. The now legendary flight from Po to Elk took place in the late afternoon (launch around 4:00 p.m. and a flight that lasted for a couple of hours).

1. Beware the prevailing winds in the evening. If you go to launch around 5:00 and it is already blowing over the back (from the West), do not try to launch. You will be launching downwind and could have a really unspectacular flight if you do get off the ground.

1. While thermalling during the summer you may hit up against the inversion at around 5000 feet. It is sometimes very turbulent at that height and it can be hard to break through the inversion and get higher.

1. The hot LZ. On some summer days when itís really hot, getting down can be challenging. There are several things to consider. First, donít overstay your welcome. If you can feel that lift is getting stronger and it is widespread, then you should consider landing. This of course depends on your skill and experience level and what your goals are. If you want to go XC, then of course strong and lifty everywhere may mean you DONíT want to land. But if you want to land in the LZ, then consider doing it before that becomes difficult.

1. Sink can often be found over the riverbed to the south of the LZ where there are trees. You may want to go over there to work off some altitude before venturing close to the LZ and the Boys Camp where there can be an over-abundance of lift and turbulence. In mid-summer the LZ and Boys Camp are basically big hot fields unrelieved by water or greenery. This is why you may have to lose your altitude somewhere else and travel back when you are low enough to come down into the LZ. (Going up and having your vario chirping cheerfully away at you while you are holding in Big Ears can be tiresome after a while.)

1. When trying to get down, basically, you want to find an area where you arenít going up and hang out there doing 360ís or S-turns or in Big Ears until you are down enough to start going toward the LZ.

1. Many pilots put on Big Ears on their landing approach so that they are loading their wing heavily and donít get popped up unexpectedly when close to the ground.

1. Of course you will check the windsock for wind direction as it can change during your flight. The wind can be somewhat switchy in the LZ, but is usually not too bad in this respect.

1. If necessary, you can land in the Boys Camp field across the road, but this is not encouraged. If you do have to land there, gather your wing and trot on across the road right away. Donít stay to fold up there.

1. The turnaround from LZ to launch is about 25 minutes. Most of the road is paved but the last section is dirt. It is usually passable in a two-wheel drive car although there are some pretty big potholes to be avoided.

 

2. There is an approximately 15 minute walk out to launch from where you park the cars.

1. There can be a lot of dirt bikes at Potato Hill because it is on National Forest land. The dirt bikes are noisy and you do need to be cautious when walking on trails because they are going fast and do not expect to see someone with a pg slung over there shoulder. If you have your dog with you, be careful around the dirt bikes, of course.

1. The road above Letts Lake (which about 5 - 7 miles further up the road than the road to launch) eventually leads to Elk Mountain. It is a rough road but usually not impassable, though in the winter there may be mud and water to contend with.

1. Snow Mountain is the mountain immediately to the north of Potato Hill and St. Johnís is to the east of Snow and slightly further north. Hanggliders often fly from St. Johnís.

 

2. Stoneyford is about 8 miles from Potato Hill. This is the XC route that many paraglider pilots have successfully flown. You can wait at the General Store for your ride back and have an ice cream in the shade. Be sure to thank your driver when they arrive.

So thatís it for now about Potato Hill. A good place to go with your friends for great flying, enjoyable camping, and stunt dog swimming. Thatís another story.