Beautiful article, Fred, and nice selection of photos!

Curious, though. What is that contraption between the hang strap and the harness where mains should be in the first photo? I gather it's pretty old from the size of the keel pocket on that glider and the lack of much of any development in the valley.

Thanks guys. I just got back from Costa Rica so am still catching up on a week's worth of things undone. John thank you particularly for helping me scrounge up the photos for this article. I believe the small photo of me flailing into the air off the north launch should have been credited to you. So I apologize for that. But SAHGA got honorable mention on the photos, so maybe that partially counts since you are our most important SAHGA officer. I ended up sending the DesertLeaf about 10 photos, and had no idea which ones they would select. I was a bit surprised that they chose the really old photo for the biggest page spread. It was a slide I scanned to digital. You're right about the vintage. It's me on my old Harrier sometime around 1985. I suspect Jaye may have taken it. I don't even remember what harness I had then, but I suppose what you're seeing is a spreader bar (Eric probably knows better than I do). In any case, I'm glad they printed Dave Snyder's picture, and I hope the article gives hang gliding and SAHGA a little local good press.

Lovely article Fred. Those spiritual moments are precious.