Read about our recent flights!
March 11, 2008 on 5:08 pm | In Pilots Log |This is a new section of our site. Here you will find the pilots comments about each flight during the 2008 season. Flying hot air balloons in Northern California’s Gold Country is not the same thing as flying hot air balloons in Napa Valley. We hope this section provides people with a combination of amusement and awe. Wine Country flying is nice but we prefer the challenge of mountain flying. The American River Valley and Coloma provides spectacular scenery as well as interesting flying. No big flat fields for us! Landing here is often on a river bank or in between trees. We hope you enjoy reading this section. Feel free to post your comments!
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This is a late entry to the flight last Saturday.
Great day! We started out with three passengers about fifteen minutes after sunrise. The morning was crisp but quickly warmed to t-shirt weather in the basket.
We took the balloon up through the Katabatic layer (this is where the winds run down the Sierra’s slopes in the evenings and early mornings) and got to a little over 4,500ft with less than a 2mph wind. The views of the surrounding wilderness and Folsom Lake were stunning.
We dropped back down after a while and tracked up the American River Valley to Camp Lotus and landed right on the beach. The campground is open and we created quite a bit of excitement for the campers.
Camp Lotus welcomed us back anytime as they thought the landing on the river was quite the tourist attraction. Our passengers throughly enjoyed the hour and a half long flight.
There are many different places to fly hot air balloons in Northern California. Napa Valley, Sonora, Temecula but there are few places that can compare to the joy of flying here in Gold Country.
We feel quite fortunate being the only balloon company offering hot air balloon rides in this part of California.
Comment by Tim — March 11, 2008 #
This is a late entry for Monday the 7th. We had a great morning above the Valley. The winds were gentle and very kind to us and we got a nice view of the Marshal Gold Discovery State Park. Not our longest flight in the American River Valley as we landed close to where we took off.
Great folks on board all family.
Comment by Tim — April 8, 2008 #
Today was some of the best fun we have had yet this year. The winds were brisk at nearly 13mph. We flew five miles down the Valley and landed near Cronin Ranch. Due to the winds picking up we decided to slow the balloon down by dragging it through some tree tops. Our passengers thought it was a great balloon adventure and seemed to throughly enjoy the experience.
We also made a new friend in our landing spot. He was a very friendly landowner and invited us back anytime. Seems things get a little quiet in Coloma and having a hot air balloon land in your yard makes for great conversation.
We love what we do. Days like today are why we chose to open this area to ballooning. Great views, exciting landings and friendly people.
Comment by Tim — April 8, 2008 #