How to Land a Balloon

What goes up must come down. Today's photos were taken on the first day of Balloon Fiesta, October 6. Shortly after sunrise, four of us piled into the Subaru to chase balloons. Chase crews generally follow one balloon, but we chose to follow many, ending up just north of Albuquerque in Corrales. This balloon was just dropping from the sky into a parking lot. Step one: find someone strong to catch a rope.

A safe landing.


Now the fun part: bringing the balloon down and tipping the basket.

What you don't see in these pictures is the crew at the other end pulling the balloon to the ground.






The bottom of a balloon basket is a convenient place to post messages to loved ones.

The final phase: removing the air. Once the air is forced out, the envelope is systematically folded. The final press to remove any trapped air requires that six squealing children sit on the folded bundle.


We moved on and headed toward Rio Rancho, following hundreds of balloons.


Cam and Gail were duly impressed with our early morning adventure.

I can't say the same about this horse, who was a little spooked by the hot-air craft all around him.



Sometimes a street makes a great landing strip, especially if there are neighbors eager to help with the landing. This balloon's chase crew arrived several minutes later.



Honey, there's a giant cow in the back yard...

Time to go home and rest. Chasing balloons is hard work!