Paraglider pilots in Pacifica include Bonita Hudson and Jarred Bonaparte, who have been flying for 16 and 12 years respectively. Hudson completed two flights in one day: a noon launch from roughly 400-foot altitude and a sunset tandem from the 180-foot Cheetah launch site with Bonaparte. Pilots experienced light, variable winds and occasional bumpiness on the 200-foot launch cliff. Paragliding is described as calming and meditative, concentrating pilots on flight rather than stress. Mussel Rock Park is a popular Northern California paragliding site with ocean and San Francisco views and was built on a landfill used from 1957 to 1978.
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.
They needed more wind: It was a bit bumpy, one paraglider said after landing back on the 200-foot launch cliff. 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.
Mussel Rock Park is one of the most popular paragliding sites in Northern California; it offers breathtaking views of the ocean, especially at sunset, the cliffs, and the city of San Francisco if the day is clear. Hikers and visitors to Mussel Rock Park, which was built on an old landfill that operated from 1957 to 1978, enjoy the park, the nature and the colorful flying paraglider
Collection
[
|
...
]