The Blog

The weekend of January 12-14, 2018, brought 20 balloon friends together in the quaint Utah town of Bluff over the weekend of January 12-14, 2018. In case you are not yet aware, I am a licensed hot air balloon pilot and I normally fly south of the Phoenix, Az. area. Periodically I attend a few balloon festivals in the desert southwest.

This intimate get together is one of the more picturesque.

It was nice to see spectacular weather greet us as we arrived on Thursday evening for dinner at the Twin Rocks cafe. I have been lucky enough to attend this event for the previous three years although the weather has been very challenging in the past. I have only had the opportunity to fly one flight in the previous three years.

Friday morning greeted us with brilliant sunshine with very light winds and a cool 24 degrees to fly in. I was aloft for almost an hour before landing on the west side of Cottonwood Wash. Following a great brunch with friends I headed off to ne of my favorite places in the world, the Navajo Tribal Park of Monument Valley.

After spending the afternoon in Monument Valley visiting friends and making images, it was time to get ready for another beautifully flyable morning in the gorgeous Bluff neighborhood. I would bet that almost all of the 250 residents were out enjoying the morning flight with us. My 1:47 minute flight brought me back to Cottonwood Wash for the second day in a row.

Most of us headed over to Sand Island recreation area for a relaxing afternoon of tailgating with friends before we needed to return to the community center for the evening balloon glow!

We all welcomed Sunday morning. This was our bonus. The cherry on the top of the sundae. After the briefing and early goodbyes, we caravanned down to the Valley of the Gods. First off, three days in a row of flying. So welcomed. We were treated to very gentle winds. Actually, too gentle we’re the winds, and a slight change in direction suggested that we land. There is only one looping road through this majestic park and unfortunately the change in direction was bringing us away from the road.

There were a handful of teams that found it necessary to be walked out of the valley, by our droplines. Check out my buddy Chris Liberti being brought back to the road by his crew, just ahead of my great crew. This weekend certainly made up for the rainy and snowy weekends that we encountered in the recent years.