Hot Springs Balloon Festival, South Dakota

After the reconnaissance trip that took us to the wonderous Mammoth site…..the day of the Balloon Festival finally arrived. Well, it had not quite arrived when we had to be out of bed and going LOL. It was an early 3.30am start. (Time to get the coffee brewed for the drive ….and we needed to get to the Hot Springs airfield before 5am)

The journey to Hot Springs crosses the amazing Wind Cave National Park and once we hit the edge of the park, it became clear we should probably have left a little earlier. The road across the park is narrow, winding, undulating with no shoulders and a darkness that completely absorbed the head lights. The ever present wandering bison herds add to the usual deer/elk hazards. Suffice to say speed limits were carefully observed and both of us were wide awake anticipating the big beasts on the road around every corner….LOL

We made it down without incident…parked at the airfield in the persistent darkness and readied ourselves to be wowed just after sunrise..!!

And wowed we were…

As the light from the unfolding sunrise started to infuse the airfield….team trucks started arriving and unpacking.

My intrepid blogtographer disappeared as soon as they told us we could wander through the emerging balloons as long as we were careful and listened to the pilots.

We were able to wander through and observe the whole process.

The first balloon to be inflated is ‘the hare’. Once the hare is aloft, the others start inflating and then ‘chase’ the hare.

On this occasion the hare was Roaring Glory.

In that last picture you can see the guy with the camera bag holding down the inflating balloon eyeing Scott.

He had spotted a guy with a camera same as his….so handed Scott his camera and asked him to take pictures for him while he helped with the balloon….!!!

The Hare balloon was kitted out with US patriotic Roaring Glory Eagles and Red white and blue livery.

The Hare carried the flag and as it rose from the ground an incredible rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner resounded from the field……an emotional moment for sure.

After the hare was aloft…all the others started their inflation regime in an effort to catch said hare. First, they are filled with cold air, then they fire up the heat and up they go.

It’s a slow beautiful ballet as they gracefully lift from the ground.

As each one pops up to the fully upright position…there’s a little emotional catch in your throat …. every time…….or at least there was for me ….!!!!

What a sight …these huge billowing tents rising up into perfect drops of light and colour before drifting skyward.

One by one they float upwards and don’t ‘take off’ as much as they ‘let go’ of the ground…..

More and more of them waft upward and fill the morning air with colour and delight.

….and then ….once they were all up and floating above our heads……I felt a bit like a kid watching bubbles….

….it was quite wonderful…….!!1

With almost no wind that morning, the balloons did not travel far….which just added to the beauty of it from the ground……it may have been a mite disappointing for anyone who paid to go up for that short trip…..most of the balloons managed to do a round trip and actually made it back to the airfield.

Then there were these guys in their motorised kite things weaving through the balloons. ….. if I was not so deathly afraid of heights that might even look like fun….!!!

If you have ever considered going to a balloon festival…..find one and do it. We thought it was going to be busy, fun and pretty…..We were not prepared for how truly awesome it is as those jewels float up into the sky. It is surprisingly emotional, breath-takingly beautiful yet overwhelmingly quiet and peaceful.

We might have to check out Albuquerque for a future trip……😁

Extra pix