Spring is the season

by: Jacob Glass

By KAVU

May 7^th, 2019

Spring is the season that most immediately reanimates my fondness for life and the big bright world. This ephemeral period is arguably best experienced in region known as the Pacific Northwest.

Here, the senses are overwhelmed with a beauty that somehow both thrills the spirit and relaxes the soul.

Vivid colors of blossoming azaleas, dogwoods, and redbuds decorate front yards and city parks. Beneath the towering trees lie delightful bleeding hearts and splendid pacific trillium. The temperatures are still undecided as the sun's heat spreads abundantly, but the moist, brackish air from the Pudget Sound feels cool against the skin and in the lungs.

Birds return and fill the skill with song. Hopes grows as the days lengthen and the snow recedes. Of course, the most natural response to this sudden seasonal symphony is an adventure with friends ;)

I had heard whispers in the wind about the boundless beauty available at the paragliding site at Blanchard Mountain just outside of Bow, Washington.

The launch, situated at an elevation of roughly 1250 feet, overlooks the Samish Bay, and further out lie both the American and Canadian San Juan Islands. After, a few days of waiting for the right weather window spent checking out the local attractions and catching up with friends (Snoqualmie Falls is magical and the hike up Mount Si should not be missed), the weather conditions looked as if they would be in our favor.

Sabrina and I threw our paragliders in the car after leisurely morning coffees, stopped in Seattle to grab our good friend Maggie, and started making our way along the one and a half hour drive to the landing zone car park. Having not seen each other in a few months, we gabbed gleefully and munched on strawberry licorice, while also quietly hoping that the forecast would prove accurate. They had each flown the site several times before and gave me all the good beta.

Things were looking good.

Before getting there and beginning the hike, we had to stop in order to fuel ourselves appropriately as serious mountain athletes. The Farm to Market Bakery in Bow did the job right. We had some seriously delicious boysenberry scones, ginger cookies, and a double chocolate muffin. That mountain of sugary-goodness made the trip worthwhile.

Trust me on this one, don't not stop there ;)

We prepared out kits at the landing zone and began the two mile hike to the Samish Overlook.

Between the car park and the trailhead, we passed the rail tracks linking Bellingham and Seattle, a tidal river, and a curiously well placed facsimile of the Loch Ness Monster.

Then our route made several turns through a dense conifer forest with unraveling ferns bordering the trail. Upon reaching the overlook.......

....I understood why many other pilots had described Blanchard as the most visually impressive place that had flown.

We readied ourselves and took the sky after most of the afternoon's heated, disorganized air had dissipated.

Then, everything in the world made sense and joy coursed through our veins. The sun's light glistened atop the way water to the west and enlivened the green of the emerging leaves and grass in the expansive farm lands to the south.

Flying up to 2000 feet, I had a great view of the Cascade Mountains to the East and North. I saw the Twin Sisters Mountain for the first time and my jaw dropped from its mighty stature. We sailed the sky for more than two hours and landed in a field of green where I met the LZ and the person who developed this site almost thirty years ago. I thanked them for what they had afford me and countless other pilots.