Balloon festival is aloft over island

ANTELOPE ISLAND STATE PARK — Floating 2,500 feet above the ground is surprisingly comfortable, even if you're not the biggest fan of heights.

The very slightest of breezes can carry a hot-air balloon a couple of miles, allowing for a 360-degree panoramic view of Antelope Island, the Great Salt Lake and other balloons.

It's not something one can just up and do, because special permission is needed before one can launch a hot-air balloon on the island.

So when the Davis Chamber of Commerce scheduled the second annual Antelope Island Balloon Stampede for this weekend, it's no mystery why some two dozen balloonists showed up Friday morning to fly their balloons for members of the media and Stampede sponsors.

And they'll be back today.

"It's unique," said Colin Graham, 24, who has been a pilot for 10 years and is likely the youngest pilot at the Stampede. "There's no other event I'm aware of on an island anywhere."

Graham, who lives in Virginia, has been attending ballooning events in the West over the past few weeks and came to Antelope Island for a new experience and had two successful flights.

State Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, has had a pilot's license since the early 1980s and has logged thousands of hours in the air.

Because of his hobby, he and fellow pilot, Sen. Jeff Alexander, R-Provo, have heard all the jokes about politicians and hot air.

"But we're the only ones who can take that hot air and do anything constructive with it," he jokes.

The Stampede runs today until dark and ends Sunday, with balloons taking flight at various times over Davis County's most famous landmark, the 27-mile-long Antelope Island.

Early Friday morning, weather conditions weren't ideal, with an east wind blowing toward the lake at lower altitudes and a northwest wind blowing higher up. The first balloon to go aloft, after 7:30 a.m., landed on the east side of the island, and most pilots opted to stay grounded until conditions improved.

But after 9 a.m., the wind had settled, and pilots and their crews began unpacking their 200-pound envelopes (balloons) from giant stuff sacks.

Bramble took a Desert Morning News reporter along for the ride.