No Bluffin'

Ann and I just returned from a long weekend in Bluff. Much to our surprise (and delight), the San Juan River was frozen. Near the Mexican Hat Bridge, an ice dam had formed forcing the river under the dam and emerging under the bridge. Upstream at the BLM Mexican Hat put-in, the river was frozen all the way across. But to the shock of one of our friends, the ice was not as solid as it appeared, and she broke through almost up to her knees.

This was the weekend of the annual Bluff Balloon Festival and many of our favorite balloons were there. The weather was cold and dead still - perfect for hot air flying. The balloonists did not do their traditional mass-ascension in Valley of the Gods because of concern over ice and mud in the valley. Instead they flew an additional time over Bluff, which is always exciting.

Trying to capture images of the Balloon Glow is a challenge. This year I simply put my camera on a tripod, left the ISO setting on 200, and shot away when the balloonists turned on the gas. Sometimes the camera's meter locked onto the bright flame and the picture was dark overall, but occasionally the meter read the lit balloon fabric and gave me a much better exposure. The great thing about digital is that I could shoot and then quickly check my histogram and look for blinkies (over-exposed areas) and try again.