La Garita Creek Spring Balloon Fiesta

by Dennis Farlow

Clear blue skies and crisp 33 degree dry weather greeted Colorado Springs and Denver balloon enthusiasts the weekend of May 9-10 at the "La Garita Creek Ranch" (the old Balloon Ranch). Located 11 miles outside of Del Norte in southern Colorado, this beautiful guest ranch is nestled at 8100 feet. in the quiet foothills of the San Juan Mountain range. Home to deer, antelope, elk, bear and mountain lion, a more scenic staging point would be hard to imagine. Nearby is Penitente Canyon, a world class (5.8 to 5.123 in difficulty) technical rock climbing Mecca and "La Ventana," also known as the natural arch of La Garita.

The spring "Fiesta" was an opening ceremony of sorts for the participants to tune-up and re-hone technical skills for the 98 season. Seven craft and their crews ran a variety of exercises over the week end culminating in a pin-point target drop contest using bean bag streamers on Sunday. Between flights, the guests enjoyed horseback riding, hiking the alpine paradise or relaxing in the spacious redwood hot tub, later feasting on country ranch cooking with a gourmet flair while staring up at star filled skies.

The author was privileged to help crew and later ascend in the "Mirage", piloted by Russ Robinson of Colorado Springs. Russ is retired Army and now works as a civilian employee for the Army Missile Defense Lab. His crew chief, Craig Bergguist is an active duty Army Lt. Colonel with the Army Space Command at Ft. Peterson, Colorado. Together, they introduced me to the rudimentary aspects of sport ballooning. Prior to this experience, I confess total ignorance to the setting up and operation of a hot air balloon ("ooh, my aching back"). I had always assumed that these majestic looking machines came out of a trailer, cables attached and ready to inflate ("Hey, give me my shades and a glass of champagne"!). Needless to say, I was wrong!

Weather and wind conditions for both days were similar, low thirties and roughly 3.5 knots when pibals were released shortly before ascensions began.

Most of Saturday was spent getting the kinks out of man and machinery. On Sunday, serious competition was in full force zooming in on county roads 12 and 7 where the X marked the spot. Chris Rutherford piloting "Coyote" won the target drop contest, while Russ Robinson placed second using a foothill hopping technique, coming in low over the target. Jeff Piner came in third, however there were no losers as everyone had a great time and a superb champagne brunch was served after the flights on both days. "La Garita Creek Ranch" will be hosting another balloon "Fiesta" on September 12-13. You can contact owners Lee and Dee Bates for directions or reservations concerning that meet at 719-754-2533 or Toll Free 1-888-838-DUDE. See you there!