This past weekend Mele and I took a trip up to the Burney area. I had heard a lot about the glass-off that happens at the Hat Creek Rim and hoped to get a late season taste of this phenomenon. As soon as the clouds cleared from the sun the streamers began to point straight up and the glass-off was on. I launched at about 4:00pm.
The Valley floor is comprised largely of lava rock and heats up during the day. In the evening the cool air seeps into the valley and releases a bouyant lake of air that allows you to boat around the East side of the valley following the ridge North and South. The view below shows the nice large LZ's and the photos above look North and South respectively.
One of the best things about flying the Rim is the fact that the lift does not subside until sundown. Nice October sunset in the main LZ.
Our second day in the area I made an attempt to fly Burney Mountain. It lies 10 miles due East of the Hat Creek Rim. Spent quite a while searching out the LZ and for various reasons I did not get to launch there this day (next time!). I think it would be amazing to get good early afternoon conditions off Burney, fly up and over the back, and float down into the evening glass off at the Rim... (Still managed to get my evening glass at the Rim after a long day of scouting - thanks Mele!)
Above: Burney Summit looking Northwest toward Shasta.
Below: Looking South to Lassen (xc flights have reached the Lassen area)
Monday brought some high winds and we got in some hiking around Cinder Cone Monument/Fantastic Lava Beds on the East Side of Lassen Park. Here are a few photos. We were literally the only people there.
Launch is a couple thousand feet over the landing zone at Stinson Beach. It was a sled ride down, but an incredible view (looking North and South toward SF respectively). This marked the 21st site that I have flown over the last year (my goal was 20 for the year!) Life is good.
Below Brian sets up his final approach.
Brian testing the hypothesis that people are like cattle (totally unreactive to hang-gliders flying 30 mph directly toward them). He made a nice landing just short of them.
Below Dave on his base leg approach over the water.
Dave pulling a G or 2 down low.
Chris' folks were in town from Florida and he showed them a flawless approach, while I stood gawking with them (camera in hand, sorry Chris..)
Above: Burney Falls
The other day Mele and I took a trip down Hwy 25 to the Pinnacles National Monument on our way to Morro Bay. It was perfect weather for hiking and aside from a handful of lost French folks we had it all to ourselves. 
Lots of climbing in the park. Most of it was pretty "dirty", but there are unique features and big jug holds everywhere. I would be a great place to wander around and toprope in the spring/fall.
All of these views are from the East entrance to the park. There are trails that pass to the West cliffs that seem really impressive from the photos in the info center. Next time...
We also hiked through a series of caves that seemed to be formed by a combination of water and piled rocks above. We spotted this Red-Legged Frog in one of them. All the caverns made for some interesting natural frames.
It is turantula season around here as well. Below is a male out looking for a date. 
This area is also home to the recently reintroduced California Condors and there is a scheduled release at the East entrance for November 1st. We are hoping to make it back down to get a closer look at these incredible birds. They have wing spans to 10', Ben has some nice shots on his blog of Condors in this area.
This past weekend I visited and flew in the Indian Valley area with a group from the bay and reno areas. The informal "fly-in" was put together by Stacy and Carmela and they reserved a large group camp with great amenities for us all to enjoy (thanks!). Indian Valley includes the towns of Greenville and Taylorsville and is one of the most appealing places I have flown so far in California. There are numerous ridges surrounding the valley(s) offering up many challenges for intermediate to the most advanced pilots. Conditions were excellent and we flew 3 of the 4 days we were there.
After a while we checked out an east facing launch and wandered all around a challenging bowl area trying to determine true wind direction. Then Steve R. called on a local for a demonstration. The red tail below soared right out in front of us, worked some lift then parked high above the treetops into the wind to make sure we got the hint. Steve and Eric F. wasted no time in setting up and showing us the way. Soon there were 7 of us up over Hough and racing around the valley.
Above: Eric Froelich-ing out in front of launch.
Below: Looking over the back side of Hough toward Quincy in the valley.
Ben on final at Hough's LZ.