I just would not (want to) believe that thermals couldn't go any higher...

After a cooler weekend, this day was forecasted to be the hottest day, with temps reaching into low nineties. Both the soaring forecasts showed the thermal interval of -3 reaching as high as nine thousand feet; I was just certain I would log in another long cross country. It was not to be.

First off, I had accidentally released on tow only 500' above the airport, mistaking the release ball for the rudder pedals adjustment ball. I towed up the second time (grey track) to the ridge, felt several good bumps at 3500', so I released. I spent the next three hours going up and down like a yo-yo, trying to squeeze my circles within the narrow dustdevils, drifting on top of the plateau two to three hundred yards from the rim. Most of the time I hovered at release altitude, only once did I manage to climb above 5,000'. That's when I decided to make a foray to the plateau east of the Rock Island creek canyon, not finding there anything. I did spend time reviewing the landable fields on the inside of that canyon; and reminiscing about why Theo, our young member did not chose them and instead fatefully tried to climb over the ridge back to Pangborn.

At the end of my three hours I just tried to give a stab at trying to staircase Jumpoff, there were a few thermals but too narrow to center. I dropped down and went to land, on the way I took a picture of the great earthmoving and paving activities at the south end of the main runway at Pangborn.