GATES OF LODORE

Hang Gliding
Flights of Fancy in Colorado's High Country
by Mike Warden

The same sky that saw ancient flying reptiles - pterasaurs, to be specific - will see men and women from all over this nation and numerous foreign countries soar on wings very similar to those of the pterasaurs.

The National Hang Gliding Championships come to the land of dinosaurs for a week in June. The event is held east of Dinosaur, Colorado, in Dinosaur National Monument on Blue Mountain. The launch area is two miles west of the Utah/Colorado border and is visible at a distance from Hwy. 40 on Cliff Ridge, about 6 miles north. The main access route is two miles east of Dinosaur, Colorado, on the Harpers Corner Road in Dinosaur National Monument.

Dinosaur is popular with the world's hang gliding pilots because of the beautiful scenery and the opportunity for long cross-country flights. Imagine yourself a hang gliding pilot. You launch by running down a shallow slope until airborne. Then, as the sheer face of the ridge drops away, you find yourself 2000 feet above the valley floor, actual altitude about 8,000 feet. Usually the thermal lift is abundant, and you begin circling in it to increase your altitude. Circling ever higher, to 14,000-15,000 feet, you begin to realize what a vast, wild part of the world this is! As you survey the view, you suddenly notice a huge golden eagle 20 feet away, sharing the lift and the view! Could it get any better than this?