Up and Away :: Evening Version

Depending upon the weather, mass ascensions of the balloons are held in the morning and in the early evening. About five o'clock I made my way back to Rotary Park. I could see a bunch of balloons already in the sky and it was an impressive sight!

Even more impressive was seeing the balloons floating just a few feet above the surface of Lake Havasu. Wouldn't it have been fun to be a passenger in either one of the boats or one of the balloons?

There were reportedly six unusually shaped balloons at the festival. This cute little fish is the only one that came close enough so that I could get a nice shot.

Looking to the west, more balloons were ascending. I counted about 40 all in the air at the same time, though not close enough together that you could get them all in one picture.

Another pilot showing off!

For a few brief moments, the sun came out from behind the clouds and the southeastern sky lightened up considerably. I made my way south, toward that spit of land jutting into the lake.

Several balloons landed there but many others continued on further, landing on the southeastern shore of Lake Havasu.

Meanwhile, there were still quite a few balloons drifting off into the western sky.

Carnival rides and other festival activities carried on into the evening, but I did not! I stayed around a few minutes longer, watching the “glow” of some of the balloons still moored on the island.

I also spent a few minutes simply enjoying the awesome sunset that Mother Nature provided for the ending of another beautiful day!

A note about the two photos of the balloons with the golden sky: Those two shots were taken with the camera at the maximum 35x zoom setting and about 20-30 minutes prior to the sunset photo. I made no changes or color corrections to those shots (or any others, for that matter though several had adjustments to contrast and lightness).

Up and Away :: Morning Version

Friday, January 20th – The campground where I am staying is a reasonable drive from Lake Havasu City. Having seen several signs indicating that a Balloon Festival is in progress this weekend, I got up at (what is for me) an early hour and made it into town by 8:30 am.

Stopping off at the Rotary Park along the channel, across from the Festival venue, I was somewhat disappointed to see only two balloons preparing to rise into the sky. Since I hadn't yet had the opportunity to see the famous (or infamous, depending upon you point of view) London Bridge, I continued walking along the channel. As I made my way around a curve, I saw several more balloons floating in the sky. Apparently there were five or six sites that were being used this morning from which to launch the balloons.

I never did see a multitude of balloons all at one time – there were reportedly 60 some balloons participating in the festival – but it was fun to watch them as they passed overhead.

I'm not sure what the “draw” is about seeing hot air balloons in the sky, but there were a lot of people strolling along the channel and enjoying the day.

One of the “big” things for the pilots of the balloons was for them to display a bit of expertise and skill by “dipping” their basket into the water and skimming along the surface for a short distance.

Success! Touchdown and liftoff.

More coming my way!

I never realized that the pilots had so much control over their balloons. Of course, the air was still, with hardly a breeze blowing.

Some of the balloons came pretty darn close to the London Bridge!

Just as I snapped this picture, the seagull came into the frame. I think it adds something to the picture – just not sure what! LOL.

Passing directly overhead...