High but Dry in Rocky Mountain Balloon

 We woke up at 3AM to reach Colorado Springs for the hot air balloon ride that was scheduled at 5:30 AM. In summer we have early sun rise in Colorado, and the lift off was planned at 5:30 AM with the pilot - Gary “Burner” Born. Gary owns the company called High-but-Dry Balloon Company. He came up with this interesting name after quitting drinking and taking up balloon flying. He calls it "moving from one addiction to another". We watched with anticipation as Gary’s crew unloaded the balloon from the chase vehicle, and inflated it using propane tanks. The sun was slowly starting its ascent bathing Pikes Peak in red. After many photos were taken, and recorded for posterity, we finally had lift off.

We hardly noticed the ascent, and as we were busy clicking away with our cellphones we were already up in the air 500 feet above ground and moving at a gentle speed of 5 miles/hr. The city of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak lay before us in the glorious cloudless morning with the sun rising behind us. We reached a height of 2000 ft. as we drifted gently towards our landing destination. It was so quiet up in the balloon and the noise of the city faded to be replaced by a pin drop silence. The sensation was that of being in the balcony of an extremely tall building.

  Balloons with Pikes Peak in the background

After an hour’s flight we drifted gently towards our landing point, waving to the early birds who were walking the streets of Colorado Springs. Landing was a slightly bumpy affair, but the expert crew held down the basket as we landed in the middle of a large field. Balloon was then deflated, packed up into the chase wagon, and we were off to celebrate another ballooning tradition- Champagne after landing.

In the long history of ballooning several traditions that have developed around it  and sipping Champagne after the flight is one of them. We were offered a glass and as we held it up, the crew recited a popular toast among balloonists -"soft winds and gentle landings” :

The winds have welcomed you with softness
The sun has blessed you with its warm hands
You have flown so high and so well
That God has joined you in your laughter
and set you gently back into the loving arms of mother earth.


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