Taos Mountain Balloon Rally Pictures 2013

The kids and I were out there at dawn. Again. We are addicted. You gotta be to be out in that cold. The hot chocolate was good tho! Two of the shots below are by Isabella, my amazing daughter.

“I would give up every other rally just to be sure I could come to fly the Taos rally every year,” said Albuquerque based pilot Helen Korfe. “Taos is my favorite place I the world to fly.”
Korfe flies the yellow and purple striped balloon “Karius Away”.

“My balloon flies in Taos the way she should fly. I’ve flown in Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and all over New Mexico and there is something about the air quality in Taos that causes my balloon to respond in just the right way. It is perfect and because of the colder air I get to fly longer!” Korfe added.

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Taos’ own Ed Smith of Pueblo Balloon Company and President of the Taos Mountain Balloon Rally agreed with Korfe.
“I have been flying balloons for over 22 years. I’ve flown in about 15 different states and I can say that the flight in Taos is the neatest flight in the country. The scenery is unbeatable. We have the best weather. And its the safest place I have flown. Every year we have folks that have flown in other parts of the country and the world and they all say that our flight is the best – so its not just me!”

Read the rest of my article on this year’s rally for the Taos News.

Here are Taos Mountain Balloon Rally pictures from 2012 and here are Taos Mountain Balloon Rally pictures from 2011.

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This shot was taken by Isabella. I think she has a rather good eye myself.

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This one above another one of Isabella’s shots.

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On Saturday night the rally typically hosts a balloon glow, an event where the balloons are inflated, tethered to the ground and then the burners are lit to make the envelope fill with light and glow against the dark sky. This year, only one balloon, “Sun Dagger” was able to inflate before the wind kicked up.  Its crew struggled to keep it under control and they barely were able to get it safely deflated in the breeze.  The other pilots wisely decided to go home.

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