18,000 and climbing out of Avenal
With a reasonably strong front forecasted for Saturday and unpleasant weather in Los Osos in the morning, it wasn't looking too promising for thermal soaring. There was a decent chance at wave forming up though and Steve had already made the drive down from the Bay Area to tow for the day. Everyone else on the schedule dropped off, probably due to the rain in the forecast or just being out of town for the holiday. Julie and I were headed out with the plan that at a minimum I could get some work done around the airport and she could go visit her grandmother in Fresno. As is usually the case, the best way to bring on good soaring is to set your mind on accomplishing other things. By Paso Robles, things had cleared slightly and there was just a scud layer at 6 or 7k. By Cholame, the scud was breaking up and two clearly identifiable wave bands were showing over the mountains west of Avenal. The base of the clouds looked to be about 6000 or 7000. Looking NW from Hwy 41 W