[Frank Colver]

My Granddaughter lives in the Robinson Ranch development, Orange County California. This housing development occupies a portion of the former Escape Country motorcycle and hang gliding park. While visiting today I drove around to get in position to take photos of the old 500' and 1500' launch sites. This winter, when it isn't 100 degrees, I'll attempt to climb up to the original 500' launch. It looks like it is closed to public entry but I can see a distinct foot trail going up there so it looks like some of the locals do go into the back country there. I'll try to be stealthy since I won't be carrying a hang glider because there is no landing zone anymore.

I stood in sight of those launch sites for a number of minutes just thinking back to the many hours of enjoyment those two hills had provided me.

In the photos I'm posting here I've included one from 1975 whole and cropped for comparison to a few of those I took today. In the close up views it is surprising how much the oak trees look very similar after 41 years. To those not familiar with the site, the 500' hill launch is the highest bare spot in the right side area of the 1975 photo, a couple of people can be seen there. The 1500' launch, as seen from my granddaughter's driveway, is the highest ridge line knob with the road visible at the top. The captions describe the subject of the photos.

Frank Colver

500' launch close up LZ

500' 1975 cropped to compare with 2016 view

500' launch viewed from the former LZ

500' launch site 1975 (bare hilltop, upper right)

1500' launch seen from my granddaughter's driveway