This time we'll try something more challenging. How about Crystal to Mt. San Jacinto and return? The turn point distance is only 80 miles from here, but we'll have to fly a good bit farther than 160 miles to get there and back.

The entire route is depicted in one image - but viewed from all four cardinal directions. We will be interested to hear any reaction from you about how this virtual flight works, compared to the previous one…

The first step is the usual climb in our local mountains, topping out at Pine Mountain, 15 miles to the southeast (marked with a big red P). From there, 14,000 feet or so is high enough to glide straight across 35 miles of low terrain with little or no usable lift to a small hill that (so far as we know) has no name. It is marked here with a bright RED STAR.

(Many times this flight will be made easy by a shear line, indicated by cumulus on the low hills ahead, but today we assume no clouds until we reach Big Bear.)

On course we cross the upper end of Cajon Pass, known for high winds and scarce lift - also known for airline traffic descending into LA! About half way across, we fly over Hesperia, a very small airport with a narrow runway and lights barely far enough apart to land between. Hesperia is surprisingly difficult to see from the air, so we look for where the aqueduct crosses a large gas line and goes underground at the south edge of a large metropolitan area.

Beyond here there are many landable fields, but the next airstrip is on Rabbit Dry Lake, 6 miles to the left of the hill we're headed for. Past Hesperia, as the terrain rises, we may come across a thermal or even a shearline perpendicular to our course. But we should not count on that! Expect to arrive at the RED STAR level with the low end of the ridge, and barely within glide slope of a conservative landing at Rabbit.

Big Bear airport passes below on the left as we head straight for the big hill with two large ski areas on its north slope. Somewhere in this area we need to become cautious about our altitude, for now Big Bear - behind us - is the only landable place we can reach. If there is no lift on the ridge above the ski areas we will need to retreat, but we can expect to find booming thermals just when we need them.

It's only a 7 mile hop to the right of course to arrive at 11,480' San Gorgonio. Here we'll need all the altitude we can get, because our next glide is 22 miles across the Banning Pass to San Jacinto (10,770'), and arriving there low could make getting home difficult or even impossible. Those hundreds of wind turbines in the bottom of the pass indicate that we can expect a strong crosswind all the way over, and back - and that wind is apt to be dead marine air, just like we encountered on our first glide from Pine Mt. to the RED STAR.

From our perspective as we approach it, San Jacinto is the most spectacular peak this side of the Sierras, with huge vertical slabs of bare rock and fissures in deep shadow. Here, paved airports within gliding range include: Hemet to the southwest, Banning and Redlands to the northwest, Yucca Valley to the northeast, and Bermuda Dunes to the southeast - not even counting Palm Springs, which is almost straight below to the east. Now we can continue on if there is time enough, to explore down the descending range, southeast toward the neighborhood of Warner Springs sailport, another 36 miles away. But if time is short, we climb fast and head right back for San Gorgonio.

Unless we've gotten very high before leaving San Jacinto, we will arrive back at San Gorgonio lower than the peak, and we'll need to climb up the huge ridges that extend out toward us as we approach. Another big climb at San Gorgonio is almost guaranteed, with clouds marking the lift many miles beyond, directly on course for home.

From somewhere west of Big Bear Lake we should be high enough to begin the long glide back across Hesperia, but this time we head north of the San Gabriel Mountains toward the shearline that crosses the wide, flat valley ahead. Like most long glides, this one can become discouraging as the altitude steadily bleeds away, but we could land at Adelanto if we needed to. As the metropolitan area on our right slips behind us we watch for dust devils bewtween us and Black Butte.