The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque is famous for its Balloon Fiesta. For nine days in October the blue skies are filled each morning with 700 colorful hot air balloons. The weather this year was mild and near perfect. We went to an early morning launch. A dozen balloons were inflated before the sun came up. Their gas burners caused them to glow in the pre-dawn dark. They lifted off together to test the wind direction. One reason Albuquerque is a great place to fly hot air balloons is for it's unique wind effect called the ‘box effect.’ The wind blows to the south at a low altitude. The balloons ascend and travel in a southern direction. After awhile the pilots lift the balloons higher and catch winds blowing in a northern direction. Its quite possible for a balloon to touch down very close to where it took off. The ‘Dawn Patrol’ balloons signaled that the box effect was working perfectly. Then hundreds of balloons began to inflate. The sight is absolutely unforgettable! Check out my video!