Mussel Rock Park experienced sunny, clear skies that relieved the Bay Area heat wave, but wind conditions remained light and bumpy for paragliders. Pilots launched from cliffs ranging from roughly 180 to 400 feet, with one pilot flying twice in a day—noon from about 400 feet and sunset from the 'Cheetah' site at 180 feet. Pacifica pilots Bonita Hudson and Jarred Bonaparte have 16 and 12 years of paragliding experience, respectively. Hudson began after seeing paragliding in Hawaii and describes the activity as calming and meditative, noting tandem flights as a way to share the feeling of flight. Mussel Rock offers ocean and city views and attracts hikers and colorful paragliders.
But for Bonita Hudson, it was her second flight of the day. The first was about noon from a roughly 400-foot altitude; the second came with her boyfriend, Jarred Bonaparte, at sunset from the "Cheetah" launch site, at 180-foot elevation. The Pacifica paragliding pilots have been flying for 16 and 12 years, respectively, they say. "I got into paragliding 16 years ago. I always knew I wanted to fly something, but planes and skydiving weren't practical and very expensive," Hudson says.
"I ended up buying a one-way ticket to Hawaii and saw them paragliding in the mountains there, and I knew that's what I wanted to do." One of the benefits of paragliding, she says, is that it's "very calming and sort of meditative, and you don't really think of other problems or stress while you're up there. You're very focused on being up there. ... I started doing tandems 8 years ago and love spreading the feeling of flight with others!"
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