I almost went back to camp Verde for some cool flying but since I hate getting up so early I decided to give the Ogden LZ a go. It was excellent.
I arrived about 0450 with barely a breath of wind from the west and about 80 degrees. Getting up extra early paid off for once, as I finished my set up to find first light with perfect conditions. The Ogden LZ reminds me of Rio Verde in that it runs mostly north south and is bordered on the west by mesquite trees.
Of course the very light breeze was cross wind to the strip but the rodeo climbed out quick with a nice forward launch. The air was smooth and I headed west to the Hassayampa river bed about a mile to the west and started a low flight up river. The treat was the much cooler air collecting low in the river channel. The wide sandy wash curves gently down from Wickenburg way and has losts of cool features. About a mile or two up from my starting point the channel narrows and goes with steep walls on either side. The BNSF railroad line runs here and a cool old lattice steel bridge is a nice landmark.
Normally I would stay high in canyon areas but the air was so smooth I couldn’t resist the fun of skimming low through the canyon slot. North of the train bridge, the channel widens out and cottonwoods appear. Its not long and there is water between the tall green trees which are roosting places for numerous hawks and turkey vultures.
This was another place that was fun to fly low with cows, water and no wires that I could see. It was very nice.
There is a nature conservancy up near Wickenburg that I didnt want to bother so I turned around and flew back down the channel. The slot was even better on the way back as I skimmed the steel bridge and made slalom turns a few feet off the sand.
To the west of the river channel lays some interesting mountainous terrain. I flew over rige tops and circled peaks exploring the area and then flew low down a drainage back to the river channel.
At about 0630 the sun was getting high and I could feel the heat building. The unexpected cool air was gone and I headed back to the LZ. It was still flat calm so I climbed up 2000 feet and killed the motor for some quiet soaring which I always like.
One of the things about the nirvana rodeo that I love is that I have never needed to do more than just bump the starter and it comes to life. At 0700 I felt the very gentle bumps of the start of the thermal cycle so I called it a day with a nice slide back in.
If you go you will enjoy some cool morning air and a nice change of scenery.
Here is a photo of the LZ I found on line (Adam Bell) and the coordinates are 33.831104,-112.629942