Home
Proverbs
Sites
Links
Photos

More Sites

E-Mail

MATTOLE

1400 MSL looking North at Cape Mendocino and mouth of Mattole River

Photo: Penguin

Looking back South from Across River

Photo: Leon Dauksa

WORKS BEST: Spring and Fall, NW to N 

    Spring means March to June, Fall is September to end of October, though it can work through the winter as well. Summer usually finds it fogged out.  This site was pioneered by hang gliders over 20 years ago. Paragliders found it in the early 1990's. (I believe Jim Yates pioneered it for PGs). Leon, HG pilot who has flown it for 20 years now, calls it the "Twilight Zone" of coastal sites. I have flown it 5 years, and know what he means. You need 3 things to fly this place: 

    My favorite saying about this site is that I can almost always get 2 out of 3. It can be very frustrating, especially since it is not easy to drive to.

But the good points are:

Despite the frustrations of hitting it right, this is probably my most favorite flying site on the planet; though the Owens Valley, Switzerland, and Lake Annecy, France are awfully close in my heart.

Requirements/Regulations

Fly Safely, have a good time.

Mattole is an unregulated site. No USHGA or ASC membership required.

Mattole is a relatively benign site, suitable for ab-inito pilot training. Behind the 800 launch is a walk-up 1200 foot bunny hill that is very suitable for beginner training. The 200 launch is fine for low-time, P and H-1 pilots when the wind direction is OK, because the LZ is truly huge - there is a 1/2 mile of beach 200 yards wide for landing. If this site was 150 miles further south toward the Bay Area, is would be JAMMED with instructors and their students every flyable weekend. This does not mean you can't get in trouble here (see "Cautions" later), but any experienced pilot/instructor can feel very comfortable here.

How to Get Here

It ain't easy. You want to get to the mouth of the Mattole River. This is part of the "Lost Coast". Check the map on the "Sites" page: From 101 northbound, best bet is to turn off at the Honeydew exit north of Weott. Southbound, turn off at the Ferndale exit, proceed through Ferndale and head south toward Capetown/Petrolia. Two miles South of Petrolia, take the "Lighthouse Road" exit (just South of the last bridge over the Mattole River, and just South of the Hideaway Bar) and head West. Go all the way out to the beach, and you will find a county campground (free) and the LZ - which is basically anywhere on the beach. Put up a windsock or two, head back East 300 or so yards to where Lighthouse Road heads up the hill South. You will drive up past a cattle guard, and observe a horse/tack shed to your right. Just past that shed as you go uphill, there is a sharp cut-back to the 200 launch. If you continue up the hill past several switchbacks, you will see a road to the left just as you begin to lose sight of the LZ and campground. Take that left for 100 yards, and you reach the 800 launch. There is a sign to park here, and a fence line. Park. The road continues through the fence-line to the 1200 bunny hill. If you are going to the bunny hill, please don't drive - walk it from the sign. Behind the fence is private land leased by the BLM; we can use it, but don't abuse it. The 800 is the launch of choice. Techno-Nerds: the 800 is at GPS N 40 degrees 17 min.351'; W 124 degrees 21 minutes, 359 feet. See also the big photo overview.(220 Kbytes)

No matter what route you take, it is a scenic drive...

Weather Links

It's a long drive to get there, so I try to get as much information as I can before I head out.

For general NOAA weather, check the Eureka site. I also check what is coming in via the GEOS satellite. For the GEOS satellite info converted to a weather map (takes a while to download) check the Pacific Hi-Low from U of Hawaii. These links can help you plan a few days ahead of time.

If that much looks good, I check the buoys. The most critical one that I pay the most attention to is Buoy 46030, Blount's Reef buoy off Cape Mendocino. I also check the next buoy north at the mouth of the Eel River, Buoy 46022 , which is the critical buoy for Table Bluff, and the next buoy south at Point Arena, Buoy 46014 , which is the critical buoy for Shelter Cove. While you are on a Buoy page, check the link for "Latest Marine Weather Forecast" and check it out, as well. These buoy links are to the Florida State University site. If that site is down, try the NOAA  National Data Buoy Center site - just change the last two numbers of the Buoy on the address line to get the buoy you want.

Emergency Contacts

Forget about cell phones - no coverage out here.

Believe it or not, CB Channel 9 is still well covered out here. Hams can try the Mt.Pierce Repeater: 146.760 (-600 offset) 103.5 tone. Next best bet is the Horse Mountain Repeater: 147.00, (-600 offset). If all else fails and you have a business band or bumped 2-meter, try the CDF local frequency: 151.250 - but make sure it is a real emergency...

First responders are the Petrolia VFD. Ambulance comes from Fortuna - figure an hour plus.

CAUTIONS

When it is NW and soarable, the usual coastal wind gradient is in effect: the higher you get, the stronger it gets, and blowbacks can and have occurred. The entire area behind the 800 up to the top of the 1200 is landable. If you blow back, drift west to the open areas - usually no rotors.

A true North - zero degrees plus or minus 10 degrees - is soarable, but if a 10 degree north switches to 20 degrees, the wind can wrap around the east end of Moore Hill just across the river, and it can get very eastie very fast and the area in front of the 800 gets very sink-y and rotor-y very fast.

In soarable NW, do not get below the 800 launch directly west/southwest - this area is pretty rough and rotor-prone.

In soarable NW, you can slide East as far as the first small pond. At some point you can get into the Moore Hill wind shadow/rotor, which does not provide any warning before whacking your wing a big one.

More Mattole photographs HERE.