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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Reader photo: Gliding in the void

Steve Baran pilots his hang glider near Steptoe Butte, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018. (Steve Baran / Courtesy)
Steve Baran pilots his hang glider near Steptoe Butte, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018. (Steve Baran / Courtesy)

Steve Baran launched his Wills Wing U2-160 hang glider into the void on Saturday.

“I launched into 20 mph winds. I was able to get a few hundred feet above the top of the butte in thermal activity,” Baran said in an email.

Baran took off from Steptoe Butte. He stayed in the air for about 45 minutes, he said.

Baran is a member of the Spokane-area flying club Center of Lift. The club’s logo, COL, is visible on his helmet. The club will have a booth at the upcoming Great Outdoors and Bike Festival on Feb. 24.

This is the first year that fliers have been formally allowed to fly both hang gliders and paragliders from state park land, Baran said.

Web extra: Submit your own outdoors-related photographs for a chance to be published in our weekly print edition and browse our archive of past reader submissions online at spokesman.com/outdoors.