Saguaro Natl Park West

Location Description

88 photos

Kevin, James and Jim wrestle with the frame as the...
The balloon lying in wait
Unfold the balloon
... until it is pretty flat. The house in the...
Jim holds the mouth open as a giant fan blows the...
More air rushing in
and it gets bigger
Send couple balloons (small) aloft to test the direction...
Still growing ... Kevin going over to supervise
Starting to take shape
Looking like a balloon. Dad all bundled up with our two...
Kevin making one last call to TUS for weather conditions
Sun has broken the horizon and really illuminates the...
More beautiful colors with cactus shadows
Now the flame thrower starts heating the air in the balloon.
Kevin lining it up just right
Time to turn everything vertical
Pulling the basket upright along with the balloon
Almost there
Looking good
Time to get on board
There are foot holes on the side of the basket to help...
We're in the basket, looking up
Just before take-off. Taken by ground crew. Kevin our...
We're in the air ... I think I'm answering Catherine's...
And we're off. The ascent is amazingly quick.
Zoomed in, but from further away
Clearly up and away
Heading North, paralleling I-10 which is running left to...
Floating along. The 'mountain' to the west is clearly...
And then back up
This is what you would have seen had you only been in...
The saguaros were just about glowing with the Eastern sun on them
More saguaros on the hillside
Great promontory as we head West
Couple cows grazing ... pretty slim pickings. What...
More of the land we were crossing with our own shadow.
Which head is Dad? Coming to the Avra Valley cotton fields
Lots of Pima Cotton waiting to be picked.
The cotton plants are surprisingly tall
Hanging low over the cotton fields
... though this doesn't really seem to support that. ...
We landed on this "road" alongside the cotton patch.
About to settle down near the cotton fields
We have landed
Pretty neat trip!
.. and start disassembling the balloon
which gets rolled up on itself
and stuffed into a giant "sail bag". Remember those things?
and time to disassemble the rig. You can see the foot...
Dad enjoying his mimosa at our post-flight breakfast.
Ditto for Mom
Looking at the Tucson Mountains from Saguaro National...
Mom and Dad at our picnic area.
Gretchen brought a great bright blanket. We just needed...
Dad in the desert.
Catherine at the table (note the big rocks). It would...
The picnic area was really nice, decorated with saguaro sticks.
Waiting for dinner to be served and the moon to come up!
Gretchen, Mom, Jim, and Dad as dinner comes together.
Jim and Catherine chatting.
Before the full moon rise came a fabulous sunset.
Late-day sunlight.
Dad and I went on a hike to see the pictographs nearby.
Uh-oh. Fortunately, we did not see any.
Mom's pictures a few weeks back did not lie - the desert...
The saguaros looked more than a little silly with so...
Poor barrel cactus (or young saguaro?).
Dad shows off some pictographs.
Looking back to our picnic site.
A closer look at the drawings.
More sunset!
Almost a cute shot... Wish I'd thought to make sure Dad...
Looking up the saguaro.
More sunset, across some other picnic areas.
It was quite a nice evening.
The sun is about to disappear.
One of my favorite shots -- I used Jim's side-view...
No more sun.
A flowering saguaro in silhouette.
Jim, our grill-master.
Gretchen was wearing sunglasses that I think were...
... while this one was taken through the glasses.
The supermoon starts to rise over the mountains. The...
Last shot of any quality in this group. I have not yet...
I do like how I got a few that look like they were taken...
Dad, lit only by the moon.
Gretchen, looking relaxed.