Aloft,
the wind took me to the northeast. On my GPS, my speed rose quickly as
I rose, from 10 mph to 15 mph, and higher.
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Georgia (cont'd) |
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Aloft,
the wind took me to the northeast. On my GPS, my speed rose quickly as
I rose, from 10 mph to 15 mph, and higher. |
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The sun had yet to emerge from behind a thin, broken cloud layer. The wind carried me over the silent, twilight town, my speed now edging up past 20 mph. In just a few minutes, were we were out of Reynolds. |
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We
passed over farmland, which after a few miles gave way to the swampy,
wooded lands along the Flint River. |
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The inaccessible area went on for some miles. For the first time I was happy about the brisk wind, which was now carrying us along at over 25 mph, although I was still wondering whether that wind would work its way down to the surface by the time I was ready to land. We crossed the river, and continued over the swampy area on the eastern shore. |
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We finally emerged from the far side of the swamp back into farm country. Roland and Jimmy Whitley, a local man who was navigating for Roland, had crossed the Flint on the state highway and were working their way north towards me. I called out some landmarks to them on the radio, and began descending. As I descended, my speed dropped under 20 mph, and then under 15 mph. With my track shifting slightly to the north as I dropped in, I looked for a place to land. Up ahead was a line of trees, followed by a field of new corn, followed by some more trees and railway tracks. I released another balloon to avoid overshooting, trying to set down just past the first tree line at the edge of the corn. I gave Roland some more directions -- he claimed to know roughly where I was heading, but could not actually see me. Then he said he was near John Goddard's hot-air balloon, which was a quarter mile or more north of me.
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I was still moving fast, but as I dropped in the last hundred feet, I could feel little wind on my face -- a good sign, meaning that I was decending into slower winds below. I cleared the first row of trees by about ten feet and dropped some ballast to cushion my landing. I landed lightly on my feet in rows of ankle-high corn, still with some good forward speed from the wind. I began running -- that being the only alternative to dragging -- stepping between the rows so as not to damage the crop. I couldn't see the truck, and knew that I would have to stop myself. As I ran/floated across the field, I managed to line myself up with a gap between the trees in the second line of trees I was coming up on. As I reached the edge of the corn, I cut away six or seven balloons. I passed between the two trees, digging in my heels, and finally managed to stop at the base of the embankment leading up to the railroad tracks. I called Roland on the radio again, and a few minutes later he and Jimmy arrived in my truck.
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John and David had landed their balloons not far away, and after loading up their equipment, they and their chase crews came over to help deflate the cluster balloon.
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Champagne
is, of course, traditional after balloon flights, but David brought some
beer to celebrate that morning. It seemed like the right thing for the
occasion. |
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Celebration XXXIV Crew
Chief: Roland Escher Special Thanks to: Taylor
County Relay for Life: Mrs. Opal Wilder [Chair]; Melissa Norman; Scott,
Ashley, Deanna and Tina Duncan; Corey McCants Photographs: John Goddard, Mrs. Opal Wilder, Melissa Norman, Kelly Trapnell, Jimmy Whitley, John Ninomiya |
