When I arrived at 6 am, an orange glow from the sun still behind the mountains and a bright half moon directly above greeted me.
The iconic black bear with a khaki-colored hat lay on a tarp on the wet grassy field. The crew filled the balloon with cold, then hot air.
Smokey – the balloon – is privately owned. The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Nevada Division of Forestry help keep the balloon afloat, said Rich Martinez, Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest fire public information officer.
Minutes later, Smokey Bear towered over me and the crew. With a lack of grace, I swung my legs over the side of the wicker basket.
Once inside, Albuquerque-based pilot Craig Kennedy told me where to stand and how to prepare for landing. Besides Kennedy and me, there was enough room for three barrels of propane.
It was Kennedy’s first time piloting Smokey and flying in Reno.
The balloon rose slowly and smoothly. I didn’t even notice that we rose several hundred feet above the ground. Throughout our flight, Kennedy filled the 600-plus-pound balloon with hot air.
“If we neglect to add heat, we will smite the ground,” Kennedy said.
We slowly ascended into the bright blue sky. It was hotter than I expected.
“A lot of times I will hear people say what I felt when I was 15 years old on dad’s balloon – I felt like the earth fell away from me,” Kennedy said.
We traveled about one mile per hour and navigated our way around other hot air balloons. Kennedy described the feeling of being in one.
“This is magic,” Kennedy said. “This is why I get up in the morning. Reminds me I’m alive.”
After an hour in the skies above Reno, we descended near where we launched in the park. I braced for us to hit the ground, but we slowly glided over the grass. Kennedy said a good landing is one you don’t really notice.