ABOARD AERPOGRAPHY — Along Idaho Street in downtown Elko, cars and trucks zip by with their assorted blown mufflers, rattling trailers and blurred motion. But that same spot from 500 feet up is calm and serene, with little noise save for the blast of superheated air blasting into a colorful canopy named Aerpography. Karl Peterson tests his propane flares before equipment is connected to the balloon canopy on Friday morning, Sept.
20, 2024, in Elko. Welcome to the world of Karl and Maria Peterson of Sun Valley, Idaho. The Petersons are in town for the annual Ruby Mountain Balloon Fest, which kicked off on Friday with about a dozen hot air balloons taking off in spots around Elko and just blowing in the wind until their pilots — in this case Karl Peterson — find a spot that's safe to set down and put away the balloon until the next flight.
It's not as simple as it may seem. The Petersons and their crew, like all the balloonists in town this weekend, must first set up the huge balloon, even before introducing hot air into its thousands of cubic feet of space. Hot air balloonists prepared their crafts for an early morning flight to kick off the annual Ruby Mountain Balloon Festival on Sept.
20, 2024, at the Elko Main City Park. The propane heater must be set up on the wicker canopy; cables and ropes must be secured; the canopy has to be rolled out onto the ground; a gas-powered motor must then turn a fan that blows air into the balloon to inflate it; and then the hot air shoots into the colorful aircraft, moving it from its horizontal state to tall and vertical and ready to fly. Karl Peterson, in red jacket works with crew member Wendy Smith as Maria Peterson, in yellow jacket and kneeling, works with Dan Smith to set up the Aerpography on Friday morning, Sept.
20, 2024, in Elko. The Petersons were in Elko County for this weekend's Ruby Mountain Balloon Festival. Karl Peterson is licensed to pilot hot air balloons and the Aerpography has an FAA "N-number" — pretty much the equivalent of a license tag on a car.
His story in aviation goes back to his career in banking, when his company wanted to promote itself using balloons as the medium. He was asked to set up the best balloon program in the country. "And I did.
It was," he said. May the winds welcome you with softness May the sun bless you with its warm hands. May you fly so high and so well that God joins you in laughter and sets you gently back into the loving arms of Mother Earth.
He said balloon flight is the safest form of aerial transportation, unless you hit the lever that "opens the hatch in the floor," he joked. There is no floor hatch in the wicker basket, but the target of his joke still had to wonder. Now retired, he said back in the day he was aloft or otherwise worked with balloons more days in a year than he'd have liked.
Now he gets to take leisurely trips, such as his visit to Elko. His balloon is hauled in the bed of a large pickup with a power lift that helps unpacking and packing a lot easier. He and Maria Peterson don't need a trailer, as many other balloonists use.
A gasoline-powered fan blows air into the Aerpography to inflate it enough for the flames to force the balloon into the air on Friday morning, Sept. 20, 2024, in Elko. Kristopher Stephenson, an Elko High School teacher and president of Ruby Mountain Hot Air Inc.
, which sponsors the festival, said 15 balloons were expected to be in this weekend's event at the Spring Creek Sports Complex. The balloonists don't give rides to paying customers like those in tourist areas do, he said. Rather those sponsoring the balloons may get to go up.
Karl Peterson, left, and Maria Peterson, right, make final adjustments to their balloon on Friday morning, Sept. 20, 2024, in Elko. Still spectators can go to the event, in the football fields behind the Spring Creek Boys & Girls Club, where there will be food trucks and lots of great views.
"It is absolutely breathtaking," he said. "Come out, enjoy the balloons, enjoy the atmosphere," Stephenson said. "And, hey, if you really want to come out and talk to a couple of pilots and see if they need any more crew, because our pilots are always looking for crew and they're always happy to talk ballooning and teach new people.
" Karl Peterson preps Aerpography on Friday morning, Sept. 20, 2024, for a flight over Elko. Peterson's crew on his Friday morning flight consisted of his wife Maria, friends Dan and Wendy Smith of Spring Creek and a couple of others.
The Petersons and Smiths met a few years ago during the Ruby Mountain Balloon Festival, when the Petersons literally landed in the Smiths' backyard. The Smiths helped them pack up the Aerpography and were offered a ride the next day. Sold.
Though they don't own a balloon — yet — that is a goal. Hot air fills the canopy of Aerpography on Friday morning, Sept. 20, 2024, as it prepares for flight over Elko.
Another balloon in the background has already lifted off from the Main City Park. Up in the air, 500 or so feet above Elko, Peterson explained how unlike airplanes or helicopters he flies at the beck and call of the winds. On Friday, the Aerpography ascended from the Main City Park near the tennis courts, where several other balloonists had set up.
Once buoyancy was established for Peterson and two others, up the balloon went. It drifted pretty much straight up, so one could look down at the park, at Idaho Street and, eventually, most of the city. Sounds were left behind, except for the regular blast of the propane-fueled heater as it shot flames into the balloon.
Flares pump hot air into the canopy of Aerpography on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Elko. Once high up enough, the balloon caught a slight breeze and drifted slowly toward the east over Idaho Street, then across and nearly above the Union Pacific rail line.
But Peterson was looking for a safe place to set Aerpography down. And he saw the spot — the Ruby View Golf Course. To get there he had to find a breeze moving to the north.
He went down a bit, then up until he caught the right draft. Though he wasn't looking for a hole-in-one, he did come down about a foot above the fairway of the third hole, but Maria Peterson and the Smiths were there to pull the craft to a vacant lot off the rough, where pilot, passengers and crew were able to pack Aerpography away for Saturday's flights. Dan Smith and Maria Peterson load equipment into the Petersons' pickup as the balloon goes aloft over Elko on Friday, Sept.
20, 2024. As they landed, families walked over from throughout the neighborhood to get a look at the giant balloon and just what it was doing in their backyard. Some posed for photos, others helped fold the balloon.
Hot air balloons soar over Elko on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. Smith showed some of the kids what the inside of the basket and the vastness of the balloon's interior looked like.
Young children were given "trading cards" of the balloon to collect. At least two other balloons came down in the same general area, but the Petersons were "closest to the pin" with their touchdown. Aerpography is on the ground at a vacant lot next to the Ruby View Golf Course on Friday, Sept.
20, 2024, as neighbors of the community walk over to see what was going on. With children home from school on Fridays, they had quite the adventure on their day off. Keith Kohn is editor of the Elko Daily Free Press.
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