After wanting to go for several years, we finally made the time to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico for their annual balloon fiesta. And wow, am I glad we did!
The balloon fiesta is now in its 52nd year, with over 700 balloon pilots and their teams working hard every day for two weeks to launch their balloons every morning, and provide other fun activities in the evenings, such as a “glow”, a drone show, concerts, indigenous dancing, and skydiving.
Skydivers and the fireworks showWatching the “glow” and then the mass ascension of 700 balloons
We stayed with friends of ours who live in the area, and one of them is a “zebra”, or Launch Director, for the fiesta. They are called zebras because they wear black and white only, so they can be seen on the fields as they direct the launch of multiple balloons near them during the daily Mass Ascension.
A zebra in action, helping to launch a balloon
Because balloons most frequently launch at sunrise, we had to get up very early in order to get to the festival and be in place in time for sunrise. By 5 AM, thousands of visitors were arriving at the balloon fiesta complex, getting ready for the 7 AM sunrise. We had backstage passes from our friend, so we were able to access the breakfast provided to the pilot and their teams, as well as warm up a bit in the facilities. It’s very cold in the morning before the sun comes up. Be sure to dress in layers, and even bring a blanket to wrap up in. The city of Albuquerque is at quite a high elevation, in the mornings and evenings can get very cool.
I would recommend purchasing tickets to both a morning event and an evening event, and possible a third morning or evening as back up. The tickets are fairly inexpensive at $15 for general admission, and kids 12 and under are free. Each year, one day of the festival is free for New Mexico residents. Visitors can pay for parking at the balloon complex, or can purchase Park and Ride tickets and board a bus at the nearby mall or churches.
A wave of balloons get “fanned” with cold hair, before using hot propane gas to “stand up” and then launch
Have you been to a huge balloon festival? If you haven’t, I definitely recommend the one in Albuquerque! Now in it’s 52nd year, it is a classic.
This past month, one half of the Palm Tree Musings duo started a section hike of the Continental Divide Trail. Having previously completed a through-hike of both the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, Chris decided to try a section hike for this next adventure. Here’s the particulars of the first 400 miles, all of which are in the New Mexico section of the 3200 total miles of the trail, which spans five states.
Getting Started
Chris started his hike at the Mexico/New Mexico border near Hachita on April 23. To get there, he took a Greyhound Bus to Lordsburg, New Mexico, and then arranged for a hiker shuttle to the starting monument, as well as a couple of water caches in the desert. Over the next week, he and his hiking partner Piñata hiked across flat desert and arid mountains to get back to Lordsburg, where I met them for a day or two of rest and relaxation in Silver City.
Long Haul and Piñata, at the start of their hike
Chris’s new ultra-light tent
Some parts of the trail are paved, some are dirt roads, and some are barely-there paths through the mountains
The Trail Town of Silver City
Silver City is a fun trail town to visit and take a zero day (Lordsburg is not). The main street of town features a dozen or so restaurants and bars, as well as a grocery, a small museum, several vintage thrift shops, and other fun things to explore. There are several motels, Airbnbs, and hostels in town, and pretty much any day in April or May you’ll see other hikers in town resting up. Silver City Post Office and Urgent Care Clinic are easily accessible and had great customer service (we visited both). The three of us enjoyed our Airbnb, trivia night at the Little Toad Creek Brewery, and a visit to the nearby Gila Cliffs National Monument. It was a welcome rest from the trail, as well as our anniversary (the third we’ve spent on a long distance hike) and then the hikers were off again, heading north.
Meeting my hikers just outside of Lordsburg
An afternoon at the Gila Cliffs National Monument
Resupplying from the grocery store and loading up for the next stretch
Silver City to Grant’s Pass
Sufficiently rested up, Long Haul and Piñata continued their hike, which they were planning to end around Albuquerque. They hiked through the Gila National Forest, crossing the Gila River dozens of times. Near the Cliffs National Monument, they rested a day at Doc Campbell’s Post, a hiker-friendly respite near some hot springs. From there they continued north, sleeping on the trail and hiking 20-25 mile days. The weather was getting warmer, and they often started at 6 am, stopping in the afternoon under a tree for a siesta in the hottest part of the day, then continuing for some more miles in the evening. Chris and Piñata stopped for a night in Reserve, and were able to get a shower and a rest at The Frisco Lodging and RV Park. Refreshed, they got back on the trail, but were met with some rain and even some hail near Alegres Mountain. Happily, they found a hiker’s lean-to nearby, and were able to shelter out of the weather. They dried out at the Toaster Hostel in Pie Town (which does, in fact, have two places to get pie), and then pushed on for their last leg of this section. They arrived in Grant, New Mexico, on May 19, 27 days after they started their hike. From there, a quick bus ride to Albuquerque, and they were back to civilization, no longer hikers, and ready to start planning their next section hike. Stay tuned for more information on that!
Crossing the Gila River
Any shelter will help when a storm rolls in
Official end point to this section of their hike
Have you hiked the Continental Divide Trail? Drop your best trail hints below.
After a couple of days in Reno getting all the playa dust off of ourselves and our stuff, and generally recovering from Burning Man (does anyone ever really recover from Burning Man?), we headed to Utah. We went to Salt Lake City and their awesome Visitor Center (seriously, they gave us espressos, biscotti, popcorn, and great brochures), visited Temple Square, and also spent some time out at Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, where you can float in the salty water, drive amongst bison and sheep, and hike.
Salt Lake City Temple
Chris Floating in Salt Lake
Antelope Island Bison
Heading into Idaho, we decided to stop and see Shoshone Falls, and were glad we did. It’s a beautiful park and not to be missed if you have the time for a quick stop.
Shoshone Falls
Driving east, we stopped next at Craters of the Moon National Park. We camped for a night there, and visited each of the stopping points on the seven mile park loop. What a strange and fantastic landscape! The 750,000 acres of volcanic debris are the perfect setting for NASA’s Mars experiments, and gives the visitor a glimpse into what our world looked like in the time of the volcanoes.
Craters Of The Moon National Park
Craters of the Moon National Park
And then we were in Yellowstone National Park! We were able to get three nights’ at a campground, and we spent the first day going to see Old Faithful and the lower geyser basin. On our second day, we drove to Lake Yellowstsone (it’s huge!) and also checked out the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. On the third day, we went to Mammoth Falls and some of the other mudpots, geysers, and hot springs. And everywhere we went we saw animals, from pronghorn deer, to elk, to bison. Even though it was after Labor Day, the park was still really crowded- and the nights got down to 34 degrees! After three nights I had had enough and was ready to head south.
Chris Capturing the Beauty of Yellowstone
An Elk at Yellowstone
Mammoth Falls
We drove south through Grand Teton National Park, where we saw a huge grizzly bear! Seriously huge, probably 600 pounds. That, coupled with the extreme beauty of the Tetons, made it an awesome day. A park not to be missed.
The Tetons
Wildlife at Grand Teton National Park
A grizzly bear!
We drove through Cheyenne, WY next, and stopped for some excellent barbecue at Tasty Bones, and visited a really great- and free!- museum on Wyoming’s history. Some surprisingly interesting stuff in there!
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Instead of taking the boring ol’ highway south, we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park on the way from Cheyenne to Colorado Springs. We timed our drive around sunset, and saw tons of elk and deer, as well as some beautiful fall colors. We spent the night in Winter Park, a very cute ski town.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Next we spent a couple of days at Colorado Springs, home of the Air Force Academy. Mike took each of us up flying in a Cessna, so we got to see Colorado Springs from above. We also visited Garden of the Gods and drove to the top of Pike’s Peak.
Garden of the Gods, seen from above
Chris and Deah at Pike’s Peak
Leaving Colorado Springs, we headed west a little bit and passed through Great Sand Dunes National Park. Huuuuge sand dunes! There was no way I was making it even to the top of the first one. Check out how tiny the people look in this photo below:
Chris at Great Sand Dunes National Park
We arrived in Durango and spent two nights with two old friends of mine, Paul and Julie. We got to catch up with everything that’s happening in their lives, and we also got to drive out to see Mesa Verde National Park. These mesa-top alcove pueblos date back to the 13th century and give tons of clues about life in those times, while still leaving us with basic questions about the cliff dwellers.
Mesa Verde National Park
A Kiva at Mesa Verde
From Durango we headed to New Mexico, where my friend Karen had invited us for an evening with her family. We spent the day wandering around Manhattan Project National Historic Park, which I really enjoyed. I had no idea there was a boys’ Ranch School on the site previously, and that it was appropriated by the War Department. We got to wander through some homes on Bathtub Row, and then we visited the Bradbury Science Museum– a super hands-on and informative museum about the Los Alamos Research Laboratory.
Los Alamos Ranch School
Oppenheimer’s house at Los Alamos
Between Los Alamos and Santa Fe, we had time to make a very quick stop in at Bandelier National Park- home to multi-storied alcove cliff homes dating back to the 1400s, as well as the remnants of a larger circular village named Tyuonyi, with over 500 rooms.
Deah at Bandelier National Park
Tyuioni village
We walked around historic Santa Fe, including their beautiful church dating back to 1610, and of course ate tons of New Mexican food. On the way out of town, we spent the afternoon at Meow Wolf, a very interesting and strange immersive art experience. At $25, it’s pretty expensive, but it is such a unique experience that I’d recommend checking it out- there’s one coming to Denver and to Las Vegas soon. It’s too hard to describe in words so here’s a few pictures.
Santa Fe Cathedral
Red or Green?
Meow Wolf
We took the Turquoise Trail from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, and then stayed with two of our friends from Burning Man, Alex and Debbie, at their home near Sandia Peak. A rainstorm rolled in and we watched it through the massive windows of their house, overlooking the city. We had a great evening with them as we talked about our Burning Man experiences and thoughts on the festival and travel in general.
Watching the rain pass over Albuquerque
In Albuquerque the next day, we strolled through historic old town. Our favorite part was the Albuquerque Museum, which has seven galleries, of which the New Mexico Jewelry exhibit was our favorite. Amazing craftsmanship of both old and new jewelry, ranging from silver and turquoise to feathers and other found materials. Worth going to, and a very inexpensive museum at $6.
Albuquerque Museum
That was our furthest point west for this leg of the trip- we turned east and passed into Texas (my home state). We stayed the night in Amarillo, where we visited Carhenge (also known as Cadillac Ranch), a series of 10 Cadillacs that were buried in a farm field back in the 60’s. From there we went through Lubbock, keeping an eye out for fun street murals and Buddy Holly memorabilia (he was from there). And then finally we arrived in Arlington, Texas, my hometown, where some catching up with family and friends will now occur!
Carhenge
We fly to Nepal on October 15, so click the “Follow” button down below to get a post about our trekking there!
Have you been to any of these states? What was your favorite things to see there? What part of vacations do you like best- wild animals, beautiful scenery, or catching up with friends and family?
PalmTreeMusings 