Where's Mike?

Section 24: Italy 2006

Click here to see Section 23: South to Slovenia and Croatia

Sunday October 8th

Latisana, Italy: After a week of questionable conditions, the forecast for the Dolomites is looking up. It is supposed to be covered with a high pressure by Tuesday, and high pressure is what we want...or at least that's what I heard from Tomek.

I departed from windy Krk, blasted through Slovenia, and made it a fair way into Italy where I found a nice little park in Latisana. Free camping by a river, in the trees, yet only a ten minute walk to downtown.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 56e

Fuel: 32e for 32.5l at 119921/286km

Tolls: 1e

Food/Drink: 25e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 120154

Monday October 9th

Passo di Falzarego, Italy: This morning I found a huge wine jug, which was being discarded, and strapped it into the passenger seat. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, but hated to see it trashed. The police, who stopped me for a random paperwork check, enjoyed it as well, and were all smiles, in addition to excessively good drinking pantomimes.

Soon after I noticed the Alps and Dolomites from the broad plain I was moving north on. Beautiful!!! 53 to 51 north...good route which cuts through the mountains to Cortina, a town nestled at the base of some spectacular Dolomiti. Impressive at this may be, I continued on and made camp on the last mountain pass just prior to sunset...very cold once the sun dipped behind the peaks.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 50e

Supplies: 14-Reflect plate & Window arm

Misc: 0

Odometer: 120352

Tuesday October 10th

Campitello di Fassa, Italy: It was incredibly cold last night, but warmed up quickly as the sun rose. A clear, crisp, bright, colorful, fall day. I headed down the pass to Canazei, with the occasional stop to take in the phenomenal beauty of the area...and the season.

I found the LZ in Campitello, just outside of Canazei, and jumped in the shuttle with a couple other guys who were waiting for ride up the hill. So far, it did not look like anyone was getting up, but I would enjoy a simple sled-ride if it were the only thing on the table.

At Col di Rodella I jumped out with Till to do the 20 minute hike up to the launch just above the pass, while the Austrian guy went over to the SW Rodella launch. Unfortunately the feared north wind kicked in by the time we got there. People were still trying to launch in the thermal cycles from the south, but, after reading the rants of a local pilot, forwarded to me from Tomek, after last weeks death, I was way too respectful to fly in these north conditions.

I was planning on simply skipping today's flight, but Till suggested we hike back down to the road and then up and over to the SW Rodella launch. I was skeptical that it would be any better, but the geography of the valley protects that launch a bit more from the north flow, and also captures the late afternoon flow from the SW. An interesting area to understand...and this may be why so many people die here each year.

So, after another 45 minutes of walking down to the road, across the pass, up to the Rodella gondola station and then 80 meters down, and around, to the SW launch, we arrived to some fair conditions and two other pilots barely maintaining.

I was hot and sweaty, I could see that no one was getting high here, and was wishing I had brought my lighter-weight gloves for what is sure to be a sledder.

Till launched first and struggled with some ridge soaring off to the right/north, and, by the time I launched, Till was up about 500 feet. I started to ridge soar, but the first bump I got near the col off to the north, made me remember that north flow...and not trust that it was not an influence. I kept to the south, and headed out a bit, where I caught a nice one which took me quickly past Till and up to about 9,800 feet. If it was just incredibly cold last night, what I felt at 9800 was indescribable! My core was ok, but my fingers were absolutely frozen! I headed out for the valley and some lower altitudes after only about 45 minutes of playing. After launching from this 7500 foot launch, I got a total of one hour and three minutes, 2300feet over launch, a bunch of photos, and frostbite.

This was a great day for me. I have finally flown the Dolomites! A few years ago, when I was here with Tom, a friend from Seattle, we were miserably blown out every single day. That trip, in addition to all the haunting stories of death and destruction from the strong conditions, had me feeling that I would never fly here.

In the LZ, after a very painful warming of my fingers, Alexander, Nicoli, and I checked out all of our photos, and then I hooked up with Madeline and Peter from Switzerland and Till (from Germany, living in Australia, but now traveling Europe) for a barbeque and drinks in the warmth of my MoHo.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 15e for PG taxi

Odometer: 120402

Wednesday October 11th

Campitello di Fassa, Italy: Another very cold night, but driving just about a click up the valley offers lots of sunlight...verses our camp, which is in shadow till 13:00. I especially needed the warmth of the sun this morning, and some hot herbal tea, since my heater would not work! The starter wont click, and no gas is flowing. :-(

A couple hours later we all caught the taxis up the hill and met at the main Rodella launch. It was squirrelly to say the least, and, those that did get off, were not getting anything significant. I had heard that the DHV has put out an advisory saying this is a potentially dangerous launch past 12:00 and should be used only with extreme caution. I decided to hike down and over to the SW launch...and soon after Till also headed that way with a bunch of others.

The SW launch is a fairly small, steep-sloping, slick-grass covered hill so I wound up a hundred feet above them on a rockier ground. It was pleasantly warm in the afternoon sun, so I dumped my shirt and caught some rays. Summer is coming to an end faster than I want, and I felt the need to get as much as I could, while I could.

No one was doing any spectacular flying, or altitude gain, here, either, so I watched as a few pilots flew. In time, about 15 pilots were managing to maintain, so I too decided to give it a shot.

I launched and headed right/north for a bit of ridge soaring, but the sky was a mixed bag of ridge rules, thermal rules, and fuck the rules...so I wound up leaving after about ten minutes. I actually almost had TWO midair's where I had the right-of-way, but needed to alter my course in order to stay alive. Too, I was already getting cold, and was thinking about that broken heater, considering the cold night to come, and knowing how nice it would be to fix it during the warmth of the day.

I headed out for a landing, catching only a few more bumps, and touched down after a 25 minute flight. Launched at ~7600 feet, max climb was 580 f/m and got 300 feet over launch. Others did much better, and some flew for hours, later in the day.

Not having had the chance to walk me into the ground, like he did yesterday, Till razzed me about my "Ten Minute" flight and all the sink I cored, in addition to informing me that all the girls on the lower launch were talking about the nackt frosch sitting above them. The naked part I can understand, but a frog!? I guess not knowing the reasoning for that is probably best.

Never did get my heater working, so plan on spending a cold night without it. In addition, my van is leaking fumes, and has been for a couple days, so I cant even use that to take the morning edge off. All the mechanics in the group (and who isn't when a hood is open?) think it is the drippy fuel pump, but that has been that way since I bought it. Hmmmm.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 10e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 12e PG taxi

Odometer: 120408

Thursday October 12th

Bolzano, Italy: Minus five degrees is bitter cold without a heater, but a quick drive to the sun helped a ton. Tried again to fix my heater, failed miserably, and then decided to skip a day of flying and go get it taken care of by a pro.

Down in Bolzano, the local MoHo shop directed me to Bobo who was about 20 minutes north, near Meran. Bobo got to work on it right away and found both a broken regulator (at 100e for just the part) and a burned through starter cable (at 15e for the part). After about three hours of tearing my heater out, cleaning the entire furnace, fabricating a new gas line so the new regulator would work with my old heater, spot welding a new diffusion screen on the burner, installing the new regulator & starter cable, and then replacing the heater in my MoHo, they charged only 15e for the labor!

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 73e for 64l at 120511/590km

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 130e Heater repair

Odometer: 120552

Friday October 13th

Campitello di Fassa, Italy: Having camped in Bolzano I was the first person at the Fiat dealership this morning. Unfortunately neither they, nor the two auto repair shops I checked, could fix the leaky fuel pump/injector today. Maybe next Wednesday? Cost would be about 1000euro. Screw that.

As I drove out of town, I noticed my fan and air supply system was set on recirculation instead of fresh air. Hmmm. It has been this way since that long tunnel in Croatia and, coincidentally, that is about the time I became bothered by the fumes. With a flip of a switch I solved my problem and saved a grand.

Solving the fume problem cheered me up enough to head back up the steep pass to Campitello. My plan was to snag a flight this afternoon, and another on Saturday, before heading south to Lago Di Garda.

As I arrived, three pilots landed after an extended sled ride...it happened to be Nicoli and Alexander from France and Peter from Switzerland. Madeline was still sitting on the hike-to upper launch under a dark, and darkening, cloud. Till had left the day before in order to get some work done on his MoHo in Germany.

In time, Madeline radioed to say she, and about 30 other pilots, were hiking down in the rain. An hour or so after that, they all snuck in flights around the threatening clouds. One rigid wing, one hang glider, and one paraglider managed to stay up for an hour+ until the rain hit in earnest.

Almost all the other pilots have seen the light and have departed already, but Peter and Madeline were still around so came over for dinner and to offer a Swiss Language Lesson.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 22.5e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 120636

Saturday October 14th

Lazise on Lago di Garda, Italy: Woke to worsening weather and thick clouds, so, armed with a bunch of new flying sites marked on my map, I headed out of the Dolomites.

As I neared Molveno, just west of Trento, it started to drizzle, so I skipped what Peter described as an excellent flying site. Instead, I continued on toward Lago di Garda to see about flying Mt Baldo...which I flew with a buddy, Jeff D., back in '94, on a trip orchestrated by Matthias and Heinz-Jurgen from Flight Design.

Along the way, a minor bout of food sickness (in this case water sickness...probably from the tap at the horse barn in the Campitello LZ, which I assumed was city water, but after further reflection was most likely just pumped out of the stream) slowed me down a bit, and, as I passed the lakeside postage-stamp LZ I was still not feeling up to flying, nor was I inspired by the weather and lack of pilots.

By the time I got to the south end of the lake I had decided to splurge for a campground and just take care of myself with some soup and sleep.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 12e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 120852

Sunday October 15th

Riccione, Italy: Woke feeling MUCH better, and the day was sunny as well! After taking the time to flush my fresh water system and replenish all of my drinking bottles, I headed west toward a coastal flying site Peter had mentioned near Cabicce Mare.

Put in lots of clicks, with my stupid battery light spending more time on, than off, and soon started running low on fuel and thought I would have to stop for the night. Being as it's Sunday, no stations are open except for the 24 hour ones that take only European credit cards.

Ultimately I drove into a station and asked someone if I could use their card for some fuel. After a bit of confusion, they understood, took pity on the stupid American, and accepted my 50e.

Rolled into Riccione at dark with a very strong easterly flow. Would not have been flyable even had I arrived earlier in the day. Parking on one of the many beach-side lots with a few other MoHos.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 14e

Fuel: 50e for 45.5l at 121059/547km (not filled)

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 121142

Monday October 16th

Marzocca, Italy: This morning I made the short drive to the ridge soaring site just south of Gabicce but it was blowing strong, and getting stronger, as I had breakfast and observed.

As I continued to head south along the coast road (SS16), that darn battery light was continuously on and I had high hopes of it staying on until I could find a mechanic. I found one in Fano, and was lucky enough for him to see it as well. Bad alternator, I was told, but when they took it off to check the problem, they found that the alternator was fine. Therefore it must be a cable.

After seeing my rants about this light several days ago, Rick emailed me saying he had an identical problem and found it to be a badly corroded cable. At that time, I spent some time poking around, but never found anything to be obviously damaged

I needed to come back after lunch at 15:00 so they could fix it, and, by 14:00 the mechanic finally got started.

He first drove it over to another shop specializing in electronics, which took about an hour, and then back to the Fiat shop where it took another hour to snip a cable end off and replace it. The old one looked fine to me, and I am WAY skeptical that I have seen the last of the problem.

I was nervous about the bill...by my calculations this guy had messed around for 3-4 hours in order to snip off a wire end, and replace it, but they let me slide for 50euro assuming I would pay cash and not need to have an invoice.

Staying at a whistle-stop town on the coast with one of the terrific, free, Euro camp stops.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: o

Food/Drink: 37e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 50e cable repair

Odometer: 121229

Tuesday October 17th

Mt Sibillini Crater...Castelluccio, Italy: Refreshed the tanks in preparation for this remote flying site Peter had mentioned, and headed inland on SS76. First checked conditions at Mount Cucco near Sigillo, but  it was strong east in the LZ, and at altitude, as indicated by the foreboding clouds.

SS3 took me south to Spoleto where I was able to cut back into the mountains toward Norcia and Castelluccio.

Norcia is a quaint little walled village on the outer slopes of the Mount Sibillini volcano, and I spent a few minutes wandering around. Unfortunately I arrived during Italy's 3-4 hour lunch break, so could not see too much. I will make it a point to stop by again as I am leaving the area.

The long drive (800 meters vertical) from the valley up to the rim of the crater was very pretty. Nice views of Norcia surrounded by a checkerboard of bright green crops and the red tilled fields. It looks like a phenomenal flight...if even to the valley floor on a sledder.

From the rim, I could see inside this massive crater, with one little village of Castelluccio and little else except for perfectly smooth, relatively rock-free, grass covered, rolling, paragliding hills facing literally every direction. A dream for any instructor or guide! I too saw a couple of pilots flying a few clicks away, so headed into the abyss and found a camp ground at what looked to be one of the main LZs, although, with only one power line, and so few fences, EVERYWHERE is an LZ!

I grabbed my gear and, in lightening conditions, took a 40 minute hike up the hill where I saw those two pilots earlier. Along the way I saw Peter and Madeline flying down and not really getting anything in the way of lift. I even began to worry that I may have to walk down as conditions went calm, and even started to blow down the hill.

I found a nice little sloping shelf, which would make a nice launch area, and rushed to lay out. I skipped the time required to don my warmth layer, assuming this would be quick, but at the last second decided to wear my gloves.

At the first puff up the hill, I was off, and, amazingly, I caught a bit of a thermal out in front which took me almost 600 over launch and extended my flight time to 20 minutes. For this late in the day, and the season, I was happy.

After landing I grabbed a quick outside solar shower and then met my Austrian neighbors. Astrid seemed particularly taken by the huge wine jug I had found so I gave it to her. She was thrilled, although I

think Wilheim may have been less-so, and reciprocated with a FULL bottle of dry Austrian white from the Schlossberg area, near where the Governator is from. What deal for me! :-)

My other immediate neighbors were three pilots from Poland and they wound up joining Peter, Madeline, and I for a barbeque potluck dinner at my place as the sun went down...taking the temperatures with it.

Later, the four Austrian pilots on the far end of the campground decided to build a late night, American-style, bonfire, and they couldn't have picked a better night!

The subfreezing temperatures were offset by mulled wine, a didgeridoo serenade, good paragliding stories, and ample wood for a great fire.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 40e for 35l at 121405/346km

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: .5e parking

Odometer: 121473

Wednesday October 18th

Mt Sibillini Crater...Castelluccio, Italy: This morning we all woke to a thick layer of hoar frost and eight degrees below zero. Celsius, thank God! It was still minus five at 09:00.

Without wind, the cold air settles in the crater creating a temperature inversion. Just a couple hundred feet higher, the hills are in the sun. After a morning fog dance, several pilots headed up to the refuge for hot coffee, breakfast, and the sunlight. Since my heater has now been fully tuned, and I really didn't want pull up stakes, I mellowed in the LZ.

Once the fog began to burn off, it quickly warmed up to shorts and tee shirt weather once again.

The French and Poles headed in one direction, the four Austrians in another, and the Swiss contingency hiked from the camp. About an hour later, the wind started puffing up the south facing hill...so I followed the Swiss.

I hiked higher than last night since conditions were unlikely to go over the back anytime soon.

Great views of the entire crater from the rim, and you can really see that there is just one road, one power line, one little village on a rocky promontory, and only a few fences...most of them wooden. It really is a paragliding playground, and this is why the bonfire Austrians always spend the entire month of October camped out here and enjoying the flying.

Unfortunately, there is a system on the way, and the cirrus is already starting to shut things down. Additionally, the lack of wind is preventing much ridge soaring.

I had a bit of lunch and then laid out my glider. Peter and Madeline had flown, but did not get much, and I did not have high hopes for anything but a nice sled ride...I wound up with 15 minutes and 500 over in the only thermal I managed to snag.

As I was packing up, Clare, back from their morning flight, came over to invite me on another flight she and Lorenz were going to do. The west facing, and highest, hill on the rim.

We drove the pass and then started hiking. At 200 meters the wind was still not strong enough, so we continued onto the 400 meter launch. This is 400 meters vertical from the pass, but actually 1700 over the crater floor. Once we arrived there, the conditions looked really good! We rushed to lay out, but things had already started to lighten as we launched.

Lorenz and Clare launched first and were losing a meter on every turn. I launched last and actually got about 50 over launch at both the steep launch area, and the major gully to the north/right. The French were a bit lower than I was, and heading north, so I followed, assuming there would be something better around the corner, and out of the gully.

Farther along the ridge, the slope got more shallow. Sure, we were able to do several passes, but got a bit lower on each one, so I continued to press onto the north in the hopes the slope would improve...but it did not. Clare landed out by the road first, and I soon joined her for a total of 23 minutes. Lorenz headed back to the pass and side-hilled about 500 meters shy of the car.

Never leave lift! Damn! How many times do I have to be reminded? Had we been here an hour earlier and/or had I worked the lift right at launch, things may have been different?

We went out for a quick drink in town (they bought, as my money was back in the MoHo) before heading to camp where I had planned on inviting them over for a glass of wine and dinner, but the Poles were already enjoying a tailgate party and immediately called me over for some Lemoncello to warm the core.

I called over the French and we enjoyed a potluck, at the Polish encampment, of meats, cheeses, pasta, pickled onions and other veggies...in addition to some good tasting, but disgusting to look at, Polish-tripe-soup, and plenty of wine as the temperatures dropped to well below zero.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 121473

Thursday October 19th

Mt Sibillini Crater...Castelluccio, Italy: I was quite a bit warmer last night since closed my shades all the way, instead of leaving a security crack, and also closed the curtain on my upstairs master bedroom. Regardless of my relative comfort, my pipes were frozen and my fluorescent lights would not function this morning. I cranked my cabin heater and also started the van, in order to thaw things out.

It was minus 12 according to Wilheim's gauge, and minus 13 according to Alex's, the other Austrians, but regardless of a degree here, or there, I'm happy I took the time, and spent the money, to fix my heater!

Oh, and speaking of the Austrian Pilots who did up the bonfire...the afternoon after the fire, one of the two couples packed up and left. There was a bit of tension in the air, and they were definitely leaving well before early November as planned, but it was not until today I learned the reason for the sudden departure.

Alex, of the remaining couple, noticed that his friend had a broken reserve container. He mentioned it to him, on launch, that only one pin was holding the reserve, and that he should secure/repair it before flying, but the friend did not heed the advice. He flew anyway and had an unintentional deployment at about ten meters! The down-plane landed him on his back...in much pain.

As it turns out, since he is unemployed, he was not actually supposed have left his country. He is getting money from the government, and they wanted him there looking for a job, and not off on a month long paragliding trip. This would create some problems for him if he took a helicopter ride, and subsequent lounge time in an Italian hospital.

He refused Alex's pleas to get a chopper, and just laid flat in the back of his van as his girlfriend packed up camp, and drove him the 10-12 hours home in a vehicle of questionable mechanical soundness.

I heard today they DID make it home, and he is in the hospital after "falling off a ladder", "tripping on a stone", or "strenuous sex without prior stretching". Not sure which excuse he chose, but I know which one I would.

I piled in with the French again this morning for a drive over to attempt Mt Vettore one last time...with an earlier start. The Poles and Swiss also joined in and we all hiked from the pass, after leaving a vehicle on the flats.

We went about 50 meters higher than yesterday, since we were earlier, and in order to get a better wind direction/funneling. The French and American made it there first, as the Swiss decided to hike all the way to the top...another 450meters above the 450m (~1400feet) we just did.

By the time the Poles arrived, the wind had gone to nothing, and even began to blow OTB. Not good. This cirrus is really shutting it down, but we all thought we would get at least ONE more day of flying before the really bad stuff hit.

Eventually it was clear the wind was over the back or, at best, splitting the ridge line from the South. I decided I was just going to go for it, and laid out straight down the ridge figuring I could take either direction if given the choice.

I took a relatively strong south cycle and s-turned down the ridgeline trying to catch things from both sides. Got about 100 feet over launch off of a larger rock promontory, but was not able to core anything, so continued my way along the ridge. Soon I had to make the decision to either head to the east into the better wind flow, but tree filled, and unknown, LZ situation, or to head west, through a potential rotor, into the treeless crater.

While still level with launch, but now a few hundred feet above the ridge, I cautiously headed west, and kept it going until I was well away from the ridge. Out over the road to the pass, I caught a mouse fart I was slowly able to work...getting 10-20 feet vertical on each revolution. I was still about 400 feet below launch level when I saw the other pilots start to inflate, and fly, to the west! The direction has improved, and that gave me the assurance that I was able to fly back to the ridge without fear of rotor.

Made it back and was still a couple hundred feet below the five other soaring pilots. Took me about five minutes to climb, mostly, to the top of the stack. Clare and Lorenz took another few minutes, and I then immediately headed north to follow the Poles. My theory is to always leave while on top! :-)

I landed next to the car with the Poles, and the French soon followed. Got 275 feet over launch, 6241 asl, and 22 min of air time on this 1848 vertical flight.

Peter, who wound up launching below the summit landed shortly after we finished packing and, as three of us drove up to retrieve vehicles, Madeline launched from our lower launch area...as she did not like the steep rocky slope above.

Back in camp, the French and Poles packed up for the start of their long drives home and we all got group photos of our, to some degree, successful outing. In reality, I feel the past few days have been GREAT! Just getting a hike & fly (in addition to bonfires, Polish Vodka, good food, and wine) at this time of year is ok with me!

I tossed all my leftover barbequed chicken in a pot to boil and cranked my water heater for a shower. The same cloud cover which prevented stellar flying, kept my outside solar shower a touch cool...additionally, there are probably too many people around for its use.

Out of the shower, the chicken was falling apart, so boned it, and continued to add celery, onions, broccoli, fennel, peppers, garlic, and anything else laying in the bottom of the fridge or pantry (bathroom sink). I then invited the Swiss (Peter and Madeline) and the non-flying Austrians (Wilheim and Astrid), who got my big wine jug, over for dinner.

Madeline sautéed what veggies I didn't put in the soup and, in the five minutes it took her to explain that I should make a salad, made that as well. I never said a word, but thought it was pretty funny. She did allow me, under close scrutiny, to make the dressing.

Astrid gifted me another bottle of wine, Chianti this time, and we enjoyed a great conversation, which I mostly understood, well into this much warmer night.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 121473

Friday October 20th

Canetra (???), Italy: The warm front is here to stay, but at least it made for a pleasantly warm, and comfortable night. Equally pleasant was when Madeline came over to help with last night's dishes before heading off to try and soar the pass area. Where we saw the eight French pilots on tour flying flying earlier.

After I cleaned/packed up the rest of my rig, filled with water, and said goodbye to my Austrian neighbors, and also Alex and his girlfriend (leaving too...being disappointed with the weather and his friends broken back), and headed up to the pass to see about some flying.

Peter and Madeline were kiting in light wind, but not getting enough airtime for me to dig my wing and risk getting it rained on. So, I instead vegged out, read a little, ate lunch, and was periodically visited by Peter and/or Madeline, who wanted to relax after their valiant efforts.

By early evening, the occasional sprinkles turned to just sprinkles and I headed off the volcano. It quickly began to rain, and turn dark, and my drive along the narrow, windy, shoulder-less, SS4 toward Rieti quickly created challenges for my vision and ability to stay on the road. Luckily this slowed me to about 60 clicks so I was able to avoid hitting the car pulling out in front of me. He pulled out from the left side of the road, and was turning right, which should have kept him in the other lane, but he swung it wide and was about 70% in my lane by the time I had a chance to shit my pants and lock the brakes. Off the brakes, out of the slide, pump the brakes...but, with no shoulder, there was really no where for me to go. To the angry honks of those recently behind me, now stopped on, and snarling, the entire road, I snuck by as he cut back to his own lane...just centimeters to spare.

I parked for the night at the next whistle-stop, grabbed some veggies at a corner shop, and let it rain.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 2

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 121562

Saturday October 21st

Rieti, Italy: Continued my drive off the mountain in the rain, got hopelessly lost trying to get through Rieti, so I parked and decided to just stay. Nice little city, and I was able to find a good map of Sicily in a bookstore, get a map of town (so I can escape tomorrow) from the TI, and find an internet shop.

After a week, or two, of not being on-line, I had over 200 emails, and another 300 junk emails, to download while I uploaded the last of my journal. The fast connection took me 20 minutes to up/down load (only responding to Arden who will visit soon), and at 9e/hour, that's about all I can afford!

I checked the opening times and found the cafe will be open between 15:00 and 21:00 today, but closed on Sunday. Decided to go back to the MoHo for an afternoon of catching up on email.

That evening when I headed back to the shop, the streets were packed! I had forgotten how this always happens in Italy. People out sipping wine, nibbling biscotti, licking gelato, and generally enjoying their lives and the company of friends.

Since the damn internet cafe was closed, I headed back, dumped my computer, changed into something flashy, and joined in the festivities.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 33e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 6e Map of Sicily, 3e for internet

Odometer: 121594

Sunday October 22nd

Collarmele, Italy: Woke late on this sleepy Sunday morning and headed out of town armed with my better maps. The rain drove me south on 578 to the shores of Lago di Salto, about 30 clicks to the SE of Rieti. Unfortunately it is a reservoir, with associated ugly waterline scars, and difficult to get close to on account of the steep valley and poor road system.

Continued on to Avezzano where, once again it was a maze of people walking, talking, eating, and drinking. From the young to the old, it did not matter...everyone was out for a stroll, and I joined them for a bit, before driving on toward the Vindali flying site.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 1e

Food/Drink: 15e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 4e internet

Odometer: 121732

Monday October 23rd

On a hilltop above Gioia dei Marsi, Italy: Collarmele has a nice little square, but little else of interest...other than being the deciding point for going to the closer Vindali, or Gioia dei Marsi, which is a bit farther south. The wind, and clouds on the hills, made me chose the latter.

Gioia dei Marsi has a bit more going for it, but not much. The drive up Passo S. Diavolo towards Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo is beautiful though! Lots of autumn colors.

Near the top of the pass is a clearly marked paragliding road in pretty good shape, regardless of it being unpaved. The worst thing were the low branches, but I made it just fine by going slowly. On launch, there was no wind, so I hung out and read Wine Spectator and laid in the sun. Not a soul around.

By about 15:00, the thermals started to puff up the hill from the south, and the wind started to blow a bit from the west. I was alone, so I took some extra time to make sure conditions were good...not that they were too strong for me to handle, but if too light for me to top land, I don't think I could make the return hike before darkness set in. Especially while bushwhacking with no proper map of the area.

The two wind components finally blended well enough for me to give it a shot, and I was happy to get almost two hundred feet over launch, my rig, and the ridge top. Unfortunately the lift was fleeting. The thermals were small, and being blown into a large gully several clicks from launch. Had I had a retrieve, I would have gone farther with them, but there was no place to side-hill if I got low back there. As I slipped out of the thermal, I quickly sank as I beat the west wind back for a side-hill landing. Got a few flights for a total of 30 minutes before the cirrus moving in and killed conditions for good.

It looks like I am once again on the edge of a front, and, from the cloud formations, this one seems to be packing a bit of wind. Hopeful for flying on Tuesday, so I stuffed my wing in the cab, and am camping on launch.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 67e for 59l at 121751/346km

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 6e for ONE liter of oil!

Odometer: 121785

Tuesday October 24th

On a hilltop above Gioia dei Marsi, Italy: Wild lenticular clouds and strong southerly wind this morning moved in a few hours before dawn and stayed all day. Will shoot for Wednesday.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 121785

Wednesday October 25th

Norma, Italy: Listening to the wind whistle through the trees, or rather my windows, last night was not my idea of fun, so I wound up moving after dark. About two clicks away, and a couple hundred feet lower, is a protected gully, home to some old ruins, and it provided a great nights sleep.

This morning it was once again calm and clear so I headed back up to launch and waited around for the mid-afternoon sun to heat up the slope, and flying conditions.

Today I lightened my load by leaving my pack, water, bum-bag, electronics, and everything else sitting on launch. It was a very good feeling to be free of all the weight, and that made the Form 3 climb even better than normal. Got 58 min of flying, about 250 feet over launch, and then headed out late in the day.

After dropping off the mountain, and getting to Avenzzano, 82 took me south and 156 took me SW to Latina. From there it was up the steep switchbacks and into Norma. A hellish drive, more from the late hour (I arrived after ten at a night) than from the distance.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 29e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 121987

Thursday October 26th

Latina, Italy: I went in search of the launch area and drove past a Fiat dealership. Interesting that there is one in such a tiny village, way up here on the cliffs, but I pulled in anyway. The more I consider my plans for winter, the more I am drawn toward a trip to Africa. This being the case, I have decided to get anything, and everything, in perfect working order.

I asked them about replacing my tail pipe, which has the last half a meter broken off, and they said they will have the part by 14:00 today. Perfect.

At the launch area, I find it is a current archeological dig site of Norba. The wind was light over the back early in the day, so I enjoyed a wander around. Very interesting to see all the stages of an excavation.

Backhoes and dump trucks moving large amounts of dirt, men with pick axes and shovels moving less, and others with whisk brooms and dust pans. Also interesting, and encouraging, is that they are using the dirt they move to shape the nearby paragliding launch area.

After getting the my pipe fixed I headed over for a flight. A guy I spoke with earlier, who offered cautionary advice on flying here in south wind, was leaving, and told me conditions were difficult. This I didn't understand, as I saw few pilots a couple hundred over launch and was WAY excited for a flight.

Once I finished my walk to launch I can see the pilots that were once way over, were now sinking rapidly. Additionally there are others struggling below launch and a half a dozen waiting on launch. I set up and go. With me dumping all my water ballast and flying the large Form 3, which always seems to climb well, I felt confident I could manage...and did! The improving conditions help me climb through the other pilots to about 500 over launch where I notice a wing on the far south edge of town and head that way.

For the most part, I stay behind the ridge and over the town on my way south and, once at the far end of town, a white/orange Advance sucks me into a non-existent thermal. I was sinking, but  he was sinking less and turning like he had something. When I went to investigate, I got nothing! We are basically coring light sink, so I left that party and headed north to the launch, get a nice bubble which takes me several hundred feet over again, and am then able to swing in for a big-ear/speed-bar top landing, to the applause of at least one pilot and 35 minutes.

This is when I saw a few big-boys to the north, and high, so decided to go fishin'. I topped up at the house thermal in the gully just left/south of launch and then cut north across the large/wide gully just right of launch. I catch another another small one, where there shouldn't be anything, but it grows into a large one, so I don't complain. The big boys are now sinking, almost down to my level, and some of them are heading this way. By the time any of them get here, they are low on the ridge but climb quickly as they jump into my odd little thermal.

As I continue north, the two remaining pilots still to the north are sinking out, but I keep going. Worst case is that I have to land below and hitch a ride.

As I near the end of the ridge (it's only a few clicks to the end, although, on a better day, you could easily jump to the next one and fly forever), the only other glider is that same orange/white Advance which suckered me at the other end of the ridge. I have the ridge to my right, so he gives way, and then starts turning in nothing, again, to try and do it again! Screw that! On the ridge I get a couple hundred over him and keep going. I make the turn point and head home, passing him again about half way back.

I top up at the broken gully that shouldn't be good, which gives me plenty to make the upwind crossing of the large gully for another top landing and 45 more minutes. Got 600 feet above launch and guess the site is about 2500 feet above the valley floor which is essentially at sea level.

Down in Latina Scala I find Romolo the Diesel Pump Guy (whose name I got from the Fiat guy who fixed my tail pipe) who will give me four washer/gaskets, and I can fix my fuel pump on my own, or, if I don't have any tools, and I don't, he can do it tomorrow at 15:00.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 83e for new tail pipe

Odometer: 122037

Friday October 27th

Borgo Grappa, Italy: Near where I parked in Latina I found an Internet-Laundry with WiFi. Great combination and, after literally 50 minutes of getting signed in with all my documentation, I spent a couple hours on-line while I did up three loads.

When done with the washing, I hit the beach for lunch, some sun, and a nice warm swim before heading to see Romolo. I arrived at 15:00, but it took him until 17:00 to get started on mine. Once he did get going it was pretty fun to watch. He really knows what he is doing, and in about 45 minutes had the thing taken apart, all cleaned out, had the four washers/O-rings replaced, and mostly put back together before he invited me out for a coffee.

I was sort of stressed as it was now almost dark, and all he had to do was put the cowling back on, so what the hell is he going for coffee for? I never said anything though, and we went around the corner to enjoy an Italian-style coffee.

Coffee bars in Italy are very different than Starbucks. Usually small, with room for about 4-6 people to comfortably stand at them, by US standards, but there is often many more. Although you don't have to pay until you leave, most Italians pay as they order, and their 1-2 once shot is quickly made, as quickly downed, and they are gone. No lingering unless you are an American and, in the past, I have sat around sipping wine for half an hour and seen dozens of people flash through. Different.

Anyway, we too were quick, were back working on the MoHo in about 15 minutes, and I drove off to the beach for the night.

Swapped propane tanks and I seem to have a fridge starter problem now.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 7e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 11e laundry, 4e internet, 30e fuel pump repair

Odometer: 122108

Saturday October 28th

Formia, Italy: After a morning swim I decided to continue down the coast instead of driving back up to Norma for some afternoon flying. It looks like it will be another OK day, but I don't feel like pulling that hill again, nor am I fond of all the smog from Roma.

The coastline is attractive all the way, and relatively free of people this late in the season. I made a quick stop for another swim (my shower bag is really coming in handy for quick rinses!), and pulled into a very large, and fairly empty, marina parking area in Formia with about 15 other MoHos and spent some time cleaning the rig and stowing my paragliding gear.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 57e for 50l at 122198/447km

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 22.5

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 122235

Sunday October 29th

Formia, Italy: It was a beautiful day so I headed down the road to a beach for a swim, some reading, and some sun.

The first thing I did on arrival was toss on the gloves and pick up four bags of garbage, although I never even made a dent in the total. I just don't get the Italian attitude toward trash. Can they enjoy standing around in a pile of crap, or to they feel they are above walking over to a trash can? Italy really needs to get that sorted out...and the sooner the better.

The only other "event" in my day was when some old guy stopped by to say hello. He wound up drawing me a large, and pretty darn accurate, map in the sand...in addition to giving me hints on what to visit and driving times and distances. Not sure what his story is, but he seemed pretty nice.

Instead of staying here overnight, in the late evening I backtracked 15 clicks to the Marina at Formia so I could top off my water in the morning.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 122272

Monday October 30th

Benevento, Italy: If Napoli is not the armpit of the world, I don't know what is. The day started with a simple plan: Go from swimming/tanning on the beach, to paragliding in Benevento, AND, along the way, make a dry run on the airport...just a simple drive-by to see where it is, with a possible swing through to check on parking.

Well, suffice it to say, the 160 click drive which should have taken two hours took me ALL FRIGGIN' DAY and I had over an extra 100 clicks on the tach by the end. I was hopelessly lost, driving in circles, trying to find any escape route, but continuing to get routed back to the shit. My compass was getting full time use, but was of little help as these insane roads kept wrapping me into who knows where? My voice was hoarse from so much screaming, and surely the cosmos were shaken by my language.

The only good thing that came of the day was that I happened upon a MoHo shop that fixed my fridge starter, but even that was a PITA! They don't take credit cards and I was 40e short (90 for a solenoid is pretty steep anyway!) so had to hit a Bankomat. Just a five click drive down the road to find a bank took me over an hour!

I never did see the airport and, if I knew Arden wouldn't kick my ass the moment she saw me, I'd make 'em both take a bus this Friday. But hey, at least they're arriving during rush hour!

Arrived late in Benevento and found a place to park. So far, I am unimpressed.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 3.5

Food/Drink: 40

Supplies: 10 for oil and car wash stuff

Misc: 100e for new fridge starter solenoid

Odometer: 122549

Tuesday October 31st

Monte Taburno, Italy: Benevento is not that far from Naples, but, encircled by hills which could be good for flying, it has a remote feeling about it. The whole town has a battered, dirty, crowded, disorganized, and generally unkempt feeling...with the old quarter being a little less-so...basically a bombed out, garbage-filed sty, which has not yet been fully reconstructed after some serious WWII payload.

The one saving grace, other than the potential for paragliding, is the triumphal arch just off of the main old quarter street of Garibaldi. The self congratulatory Arch of Trajan, commissioned by said emperor during Roman rule, is in very good condition and still clearly shows numerous scenes of Trajan's kindness, generosity, power, and triumphs.

Regardless of the strong wind I headed out of town in search of the nearest paragliding site. I wound up taking a very pretty drive through the Parco Regionale del Monte Taburno and up Taburno. The fallen leaves created a thick orange blanket over the un-traveled road, and between the trees, which was quite a sight with the filtered autumn sunlight.

I pulled out of the trees on the NE side of the mountain and came upon a grassy knoll which would function nicely as a paragliding launch. Ok, the SE wind is not the best direction, and the strength is beyond extreme, but I am hopeful for something tomorrow.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 7e

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 122598

Wednesday November 1st

Monte Taburno, Italy: Strong wind and rain all night and through today. Very cold, and I am reconsidering my attempt at flying here, and my camping at such altitude.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 0

Tolls: 0

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 0

Odometer: 122598

Thursday November 2nd

Pompei, Italy: Cold, windy, and rainy night and morning, but, when it started to snow, I quickly battened down the hatches and drove off the mountain. No good getting stuck up here when I need to be picking up the girls tomorrow.

Did another attempted drive-by of the airport, and at least saw a sign for it, before continuing south to Pompei where I am staying in a campground so I can clean the rig out before picking up Arden and Lyn.

Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0

Fuel: 62e fro 54l at 122625/428km

Tolls: 2e

Food/Drink: 0

Supplies: 0

Misc: 2e internet, 4e laundry.

Odometer: 122694

Click here to see Section 25: Italy 2006--Part due