If I'm crossing a number of ridges (large ones out here) I get to a
comfortable altitude above the highest ridge for the cross country, select
the proper hemispheric and stay there. If I'm parallel, flying up the
valley, I select the proper hemispheric and stay to the right. Most flying
is above the 3000ft AGL of the valley floor.

If I'm below 3000ft AGL, I might as well be nap-o-the-earth because of all
the ridge lines I have to climb and it don't matter, yes, most "ridges" out
here are higher than 3000ft above the valley floor. Plus now with spring and
summer approaching, if I'm that low, it serves me right to get beat up with
the low level turbulence from thermal activity.

BT

"tony zambon" wrote in message
m...
got into a discussion at the old watering hole tonight about the base
altitude of the hemispherical cruising altitude( you know, 3000 agl). but
the question came up what do you do in mountainous terrain where the
ground
elevation can change thousands of feet in just a few miles. how do you
determine the lowest cruising altitude in conformance with the
hemispherical cruising altitude when the ground elevation is always
changing
by thousands of feet?


tony zambon
grumman 9941L