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Up, Up and Away

From black and white to so much color it could make your head spin!

Ken and I received a gift of a hot air balloon ride for a wedding present. Three years ago. We tried to schedule it but the weather would not cooperate or Ken’s job didn’t cooperate or something or other. This year, it all fell into place. On the day following our third anniversary, Kurt and Melinda of Morning Glory Balloon Tours took us on a beautiful airborne tour of the Methow Valley; this place we call home. It was peaceful and stunning. The weather was perfect. Blue skies, green hills, snow-capped mountains. Exactly what we had hoped for.

Kurt readying the balloon
Looking from the top to the bottom of the balloon ‘envelope’.
Ken and Kurt admire the colors
Melinda holds onto the bottom edge of the balloon envelope
Ready to fill it with hot air
up
up
Up it goes!
Inflated and ready for us
With little fanfare we were suddenly floating above the tree tops. Looking down valley.
Mount Gardner looming above Sun Mountain Lodge
The Methow River with the highway bridge at Winthrop near the top.
Winthrop looks bigger from up above.
The Sawtooth Mountains above the western edge of the valley
Did I mention snow-capped mountains and green hills?
Kurt Oakley, pilot and co-owner of Morning Glory Balloon Tours.
Ken enjoys the view
Tree shadows along the river
Shadows are really interesting from above
Looking up valley towards the North Cascades
Higher still above Winthrop
The North Cascades
The Sawtooth range above Twin Lakes
Just about all of the upper valley
Looking down valley towards Twisp
Above Harrier Hill. Studhorse Hill is in the background with Pearrygin Lake just to the right of it.
Our house! You can see the beehives on the right
Some steep hillsides
The chase crew waits for our landing. We ended up in a different field. There’s no steering up there.
Landing shadow!
Down it goes.
They are pretty quick deflating the envelope and getting it packed up for another day.
Kurt even has a matching shirt for the balloon!

Many thanks to our dear friends and this wonderful gift!

Hot Air Balloons in Winthrop

During the first full weekend in March, Winthrop’s Morning Glory Balloon Tours hosts a Balloon Roundup and hot air balloons from all over the Pacific Northwest show up and launch (weather permitting) next to the river three mornings in a row. It’s a fun event and certainly one that all photographers love. Colorful balloons, blue skies, snow-covered mountains – what else could you want?

Getting started
The basket
Waiting for the air
Testing the flame
How does it look in there?
Holding on
Rising off the ground
Almost vertical
And there goes the first one – our local balloon from Morning Glory Balloon Tours
A flock of geese goes by
I like the moment when they go from horizontal to vertical
What’s not to like about this?
Almost full
This one is not round
Up, up and away …..

Hot Air Balloons

Every year at this time, Morning Glory Balloon Tours hosts the Winthrop Balloon Roundup. Often, the weather is stellar with blue skies over snow capped mountains and sometimes it is bitterly cold, but calm. Some years I’ll go see them three days in a row! Last weekend’s roundup didn’t fare so well with the weather. Skies were gray and on Sunday it was windy and the balloons didn’t fly at all. I was glad to see them on Saturday.

Last year, after three days of balloons, I had three posts about this event. You can see them starting here. The couple that were married in a balloon were back this past weekend to celebrate their anniversary with Captain Crystal and her balloon.

 

Picture Perfect

Today was picture perfect weather for the last day of the hot air balloon get-together in the Methow Valley. Clear cold skies got the balloonists up early and fanning air into their enormous nylon envelopes. Parking lots were full and balloons popped up all over the outskirts of Winthrop. The air conditions must have been perfect as most of the balloons stayed up for a long time and passengers seemed to be enjoying themselves. Everywhere people were photographing the sights with all manner of cameras. The colorful balloons are a wonderful foil to the snow-covered landscapes we’ve had for months now. I think that’s why I enjoy this event so much.

Last night there was a ‘balloon glow’ in downtown Winthrop. The striped balloon is from our local balloon company, Morning Glory Balloon Tours.

Nice moon too.

Balloons in the morning mist

Filling a balloon is a time consuming practice

This balloon had a new pilot and they were trying to land the basket in the river and let the current take them downstream. It’s a delicate balance to keep the balloon inflated and upright and let the water move them along.

That just didn’t look good

Someone else got their balloon in the main channel of the river and set down easily

They had to lift the balloon over the log and still figure out how to get to the other side of the channel

Cameras everywhere

Nope, still not moving downstream

Hmmm, what are they looking at?

Well now they are moving again.

They got down the little riffle

What’s the next obstacle?

More trees to clear

Up, up and away they go!

 

Winthrop Balloon Round Up – Day One

Lots of colorful hot air balloons dotted the landscape and skies this morning as the Round Up got into full swing. Yesterday we saw two balloons out; today there were more than a dozen! The big parking lot didn’t get fully plowed so balloons were launching from various sites on the edges of town – behind and in front of the Red Apple Market, at the Friendship Church and rumour has it tomorrow they will launch from Town Trailhead too. All for fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post needed a dog, don’t you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe two dogs.

 

This is a drone. Rumour has it that it will be making a video of a wedding to be held in one of the balloon baskets tomorrow! How exciting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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