Up, up and away
By Paul Franson
Bayinsider Contributor
Arise to greet the sunrise early on a Napa Valley morning and you will see the magical sight of colorful hot-air balloons floating on the horizon.
It looks like fun, but you don't know the half of it. It's simply unforgettable, better than you could even imagine. Slowly floating where the wind wants to take you over vineyards, farms and towns, you get a view and perspective unimaginable from any other experience.
 That's especially true over the narrow Napa Valley defined by steep mountains, compressing the scenery and ride to a compact area over and among some of the most beautiful views in America.
A number of companies offer balloon rides for $175 to $225 per person, mostly depending on whether and where they pick you up or meet you (including San Francisco). The rides typically last about an hour, the experience three or four, including coffee and pastry before the ascent, and a post-flight brunch featuring Napa Valley sparkling wine.
The largest company, and one that has been offering the rides for about 20 years, is Balloons Above the Valley. It has ten balloons, three of them monsters that are the largest in the United States. Each holds 16 friendly people — plus the pilot — in a woven rattan gondola, which weighs only 600 lbs. The rig is 120 ft. high, as tall as a 14-story building and holds 250,000 cubic feet of air. These balloons can lift 5000 lbs, so as company owner and pilot Bob Barbarick says, "It doesn't matter how many pancakes you had for breakfast."
The company also has smaller balloons for private parties and smaller groups.
The balloons get their lift from hot air generated by nozzles that burn propane. The flames can shoot 10 feet high, very dramatic when they're only a few feet above your head.
A trip above the Valley
The best time for ballooning is at sunrise, when the winds are typically light in Napa Valley. In the case of Balloons Above the Valley, that means meeting at 6:30 a.m. at its site by the Red Hen Antique Store and Cantina just south of Yountville, famous for its huge white statue of a rooster. After signing a waiver and downing a roll and coffee, you hop in a van for the launch site, typically the parking lot behind Domaine Chandon winery.
 Obviously, the early morning time is perfect in the warm summer, but the balloons do operate year round. Fortunately, the heat from the burner keeps passengers warm even when it's cool. If it's raining or too windy (over 10 mph), the balloons don't fly.
The passengers, variously called balloonists, argonauts or even balloonatics, get to watch the inflation process. The balloon is stretched out across the lot while a powerful fan partly inflates it with cold air. Then the giant blow torches start and soon the balloon is stretching skyward. At that point, everyone scrambles aboard, climbing gracelessly in most cases, into the gondola. A number of ground crew hang on as the hot air is again ignited and when the pilot says so, the crew lets go (or jumps off) and the balloon slowly rises above the parking lot, then the winery. There's no jumpy sensation in your stomach as in an airplane because of the slow and gentle motion.
So high, so far
The balloons typically travel about 500 feet, though they can hover just above the vines or rise thousands of feet up, high enough to cross the mountains.
As you glide along, jack rabbits and deer bolt from their forbidden pleasures munching on grapes and tender grape vines, and the occasional cow looks up curiously. A red-tailed hawk eyes the balloon, trying to figure out whether it's a threat or a treat, but soon zooms away seeking better prospects for breakfast.
The winds typically take you south, but sometimes travel north toward Rutherford and St. Helena.
Your pilot identifies sights as you pass their site, here Robert Mondavi's knoll-top villa, there Trefethen vineyards, famous for its Chardonnay and Cabernet. If it's in the fall, you see the patchwork of fields dotted with beautiful red and purple grape leaves that betray vines infected with viruses.
The distance you travel depends solely on the winds. You may go only a few miles, allowing you to inspect every sight, or you may, as I was lucky enough to do, travel about 13 miles over the city of Napa, looking at its huge collection of Victorian houses and the projected river widening planned as part of its flood control efforts.
Touchdown!
Another balloon load the morning I flew hopped over the south end of the Mayacamas mountains, flying over the Hess Collection and impressive Domain Carneros sparkling wine cellars, ending up in a vineyard by Saintsbury Winery.
The landing is exciting, and I was sure we were going to end up in the Napa River. But, no, the balloon came down with only a few gentle bumps and bounces. Then the ground crew, with a little help from passengers, helped furl the balloon.
Soon we boarded our van for a short trip back to the starting point, where we enjoyed the brunch with Domaine Chandon sparkling wine, a guilty pleasure at 9 in the morning. We also received our certificates, balloon pins and complimentary T-shirts.
There may be a better way to start a day than gliding over Napa Valley in a balloon, but if there is, I've never found it.
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