Trip Report: Bluff Balloon Festival

[sixstringsteve]

January is probably one of the toughest months to plan for trips. Everything is dependent on weather, and sometimes there just aren't any warm places to go in the state. Last year was Moab (in the snow), and this year was Bluff. Mesha had told me about the Bluff Balloon Festival, and it sounded like a fun way to spend a weekend in January.


[video=youtube_share;GzCbmsp2_18]http://youtu.be/GzCbmsp2_18[/video]


Due to work schedules being crazy Thursday night, we left 3 hours later than we had hoped, which meant we missed the navajo tacos and fry bread the elementary school sells.

We pulled into Blanding around 8 PM to meet up at the Four Corners Adventure Loft that my friend owns. It's basically a furnished apartment in the loft of his barn. We were exhausted from the 5 hour drive down there, so we didn't have much energy.

There was a full kitchen beds for 12, and an xbox kinnect (which all but one of has had ever seen before). We aren't gamers, but we had a blast playing the plug the leak and river rafting games.

After an hour or two of that, we conked out for the night.

 

[sixstringsteve]

The next morning we had breakfast, and packed up. The kids (and the adults who were kids at heart) rode the zip line for a bit.

We chatted with Jared, the owner, and he gave us some great inside tips of where to explore in the area. Our first destination was a kid-friendly slot canyon. We were afraid it might be snowy, icy, or full of water, but we set off and hoped for the best.

We made it to the start, only to find the slot had water in it, and the kids couldn't stem across and there was no real bypass, so we turned back for some more hiking.

We drove around comb ridge for a bit, in search of ruins and rock art, and it sure didn't dissappoint. When we were down here in 2012, we drove right past so many excellent sites with no idea there were such great ruins in the area.

I think I've seen one too many Toyota commercials in my life.

Cedar, who is 4, needed a little motivation to finish each hike. Cody had the brilliant idea to bribe her with a snickers and she came alive. In fact, she passed some of the adults. When she arrived at the car, she reminded us "I really like snickers." Fortunately, we had a few more snickers to bribe her with for the next hikes.

 

[sixstringsteve]

From there we headed out to find the wolfman art panel. It looks like we didn't take any pictures of the panel, but we did get some video (see video at the beginning of this TR).

While we were down there, we thought to ourselves "I'll be there are some ruins nearby." So we sent Cody on ahead to scout for some ruins. Sure enough, he found some. These ruins were interesting because they were more mud than rock, which was new for me.

Further east we found the world's first Cafe Rio. After ordering a chalupa, we headed back to the car for lunch.

After lunch, Mesha and his family headed in to Bluff for the chili cookoff, while the rest of us headed to see if we could find Monarch Cave Ruin. Cody and Gordon had directions to the ruin and we headed off. This ended up being my second-favorite ruin that I've seen (granted, I have only seen about 10 ruins in my life).

We didn't take good enough pictures, but there's some great video of the area. It looked like something from Indiana Jones.

It had it all, old corn cobs, pieces of a wooden roof, grinding stones, and paintings all over the cave. I will definitely go back to visit this area.

 

[sixstringsteve]

From there we headed back to Bluff for the balloon glow-in. Most of us had never been to a glow-in before. Basically, a handful of balloons line up, and when it gets dark, they light up their burners to make their balloon glow. They don't leave the ground. It's like a light show on the ground, but they let you go up and touch them and talk to the owners. It was really cool. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I was on video camera duty, not still camera duty.

From there we headed to Valley of the Gods, where our new friend, Yvonne, had staked out a camp site for us. Meeting Yvonne was probably the highlight of my trip, I've never met a more pleasant, excited, enthusiastic individual. Her passion for life and the outdoors is contagious. After lots of campfire chat and our fire died down, it got cold and we hit the sack.

 

[sixstringsteve]

The next morning we awoke to see the balloons being hauled in to Valley of the Gods. It was fun to see how people transported them. Some people had a dedicated trailer with chase vehicles, others had them in a pickup bed, and others had a hitch on the back of their van, with the balloon all packed up on it. IntrepidXJ and his girlfriend joined us. It was good to finally meet him, I've read so many of his trip reports. I hope to bump into him on future trips as well.

Before long, they were inflated and soaring in the sky.

We drove over to get closer to the balloons, and once again found the balloon pilots to be open to questions, and excited to share their passion.

I'm guessing Randy, Diane, and Yvonne are somewhere in this shot.

 

[sixstringsteve]

After a quick breakfast, Yvonne and Randy took off to explore ruins in the area. The rest of us decided to check out the Citadel ruins since we had never been there. This turned out to be the best decision we could have made.

The citadel ruins are amazing. They're out on a peninsula, with cliffs all around it. It's truly spectacular.

Once you get to the peninsula, you get to see one of the most in-tact ruins around.

From there, we made the LONG drive home through Hanksville. In hindsight, it probably would have been quicker to go back to Montecello and head home through Moab.

All in all, another fantastic trip with great friends. I can't wait for the next one. If you have pictures or comments to add, post them up here!

If you haven't checked out the video yet, do it. It does a better job telling the story than my words can.

 

[corbin.black]

Thats awesome, I love Bluff. I have several family ties with Bluff as my Great Great Great grandfather was one of the first settlers and the first bishop of Bluff a long time ago. My grandmother owns one of his (Jens Nielson) houses there in Bluff (the house just north of the elementary school) and she normally runs the Bluff fort right next to the elementary school.
Amazing trip report and thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Jens Nielson is my hero. He is your great great great grandfather? I wish I had ancestors from that expedition, that would be so cool.

The Hole in the Rock expedition is probably my favorite piece of Utah History. I love going to the cemetery to see their graves.

 

[corbin.black]

Jens Nielson is my hero. He is your great great great grandfather? I wish I had ancestors from that expedition, that would be so cool.

The Hole in the Rock expedition is probably my favorite piece of Utah History. I love going to the cemetery to see their graves.

Yes, he is. All of my family is from either Bluff, Blanding or Monticello. I was born and raised down there also. Many of my ancestors were part of the Hole in the Rock expedition and came over with the Willie and Martin hand cart companies. I go to that cemetary every time I go down there as he is also one of my Hero's.

 

[sixstringsteve]

That is too cool. I'd love to read some of those original journals from the people who made the trek. I've read undaunted, and now I want to separate the fact from the fiction.

 

[corbin.black]

That is too cool. I'd love to read some of those original journals from the people who made the trek. I've read undaunted, and now I want to separate the fact from the fiction.

I've seen some of the journals but never had the chance to read any of them all the way through. From talking with my Grandmother who runs the Bluff fort, she said undaunted did an Okay job but missed several things. She said they didn't really add much, just left things out as it would have made a huge book if everything was added.

 

[mesha]

The trip was a lot of fun.

You left the glow-in before the Turd Tsunami over took the senior center in Bluff. The sewer backed up and everyone was running for their lives. It has been a while since I laughed that hard.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm not sure if I'm glad or sad that I missed the turd tsunami. That would have made for a great video segment.

 

[Marsh99]

I missed out by not going on this one.

 

[Rock Taco]

The trip was a lot of fun.

You left the glow-in before the Turd Tsunami over took the senior center in Bluff. The sewer backed up and everyone was running for their lives. It has been a while since I laughed that hard.

I heard some grumblings about this as we were leaving. Glad we didnt stick around for that.

I'll post some pics later.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I heard some grumblings about this as we were leaving.

That was everyone's stomiach grumbling. You can't have a chili cookoff and then let the sewer get backed up, that's just wrong.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I missed out by not going on this one.

Yes, you did. Have you learned your lesson yet?

 

[DAA]

Great trip!

- DAA

 

[DAA]

Thats awesome, I love Bluff. I have several family ties with Bluff as my Great Great Great grandfather was one of the first settlers and the first bishop of Bluff a long time ago. My grandmother owns one of his (Jens Nielson) houses there in Bluff (the house just north of the elementary school) and she normally runs the Bluff fort right next to the elementary school.
Amazing trip report and thanks for sharing the pictures.

Very cool!

Here is a picture of an inscription by possibly your great-great-great Grandmother - depending on which wife you go back to.

No doubt our people knew each other. My ancestors were among the original settlers of Hanksville.

- DAA

 

[DAA]

P.S... Meant to include - that inscription is at Robbers Roost spring.

- DAA