Erie Days Balloon Launch

Last weekend was Erie Days. The festivities include a fair downtown with music and events for the kids. Bigger kids might enjoy the airshow at the local tri-county airport, (we were able to see some of the planes in formation from our house that day but didn't attend). This year we were determined to see the balloons launch, even though they started at 6:00am. There were to be three days of balloons.

We didn't bother with Friday, but went out on Saturday morning to join the undercaffeinated crowds. The weather was pretty grey, but that didn't phase us. Once we got there it became obvious that the balloon launch that morning wasn't a given. The chilly crowds were milling, but there were no balloons in site. It was announced over loud speakers that the launch was delayed 30 minutes due to wind. About 30 minutes later it was announced that the launch was scrubbed for the day.

We went out for breakfast, promising that we would try again the next day.

Sunday morning dawned much clearer than Saturday. No wind and clear skies. We packed our coffee and dressed in warm layers.

The field looked much more promising than the previous morning. Trucks with balloon festooned trailers were all over the place, and the crowds were beginning to mill about. We found a hill in the middle of the field, and were quickly surrounded by 4 or 5 different trucks.
Once they began unloading baskets and testing their fire-power we knew we were in business.

Natalie was intrigued by the balloons in the air. A good lesson in "up".


We had front-row seats for one of the balloons. We had to move out of the way as they rolled out and filled the balloon using a gas engine-powered fan.

Once the balloons were full, they would turn on the fire and the heat lifted them right up.

Soon after the field and sky filled with balloons.



Here's a view after all the balloons had launched and were moving away. Many are on the horizon, so you can't actually see them all there. The only bad part about the experience was that the wind was blowing the balloons off towards the low morning sun. If it had been blowing the other way, the balloons would have been perfectly lit with a snow-covered Long's Peak and the whole front range spread out behind them.

There were supposed to be 50 something balloons launching that morning. I didn't count though.

We will do this again for sure. There were balloons from all over Colorado, and we saw a couple from Wyoming as well. Very cool.