EISPIRATEN

Share your more interesting balloon finds in the mountains!

Yesterday the trail work crew found this one near Mt. Lowe Campground.



It's unusual to find a stray balloon that can be so easily dated. Super Bowl 42 took place on February 3, 2008 in Glendale, Arizona. One of Eli Manning's finest moments, he led the Giants to victory over the Patriots in a final-minutes scoring drive, winning 17-14. The game is also remembered for David Tyree's amazing "Helmet Catch" and Tom Petty's halftime musical performance.





I like to imagine that the balloon sailed all the way to Mt. Lowe from the game in Arizona. But it probably escaped from a party in Pasadena.

Ha! Similar to 'beercan archaeology', eh what?

The Shrimp Balloon - Not my photo, but I thought it was cool.

That's a great balloon find! I wonder every time about how old a found balloon is, but there's never a clear indication. Sometimes it'll have a date within a year (Happy Graduation!) but I've never found one that has a year on it.

While working on the Dark Canyon Road I found this delicate beauty.



Of course most snowflakes are tiny. But some grow to between two and six inches under ideal flake-making conditions. And then there are the questionable reports of rare, freakishly giant ones. For example, Guinness World Records puts the largest known snowflake at 15 inches.

However, mine beat them all at an incredible 32 inches. It's called a Prismatic Snowflake Cluster, made by Anagram Balloons. Anagram claims that, fully inflated with helium, it will achieve a maximum elevation of 2500 feet. Yet I retrieved this one from the CCC Ridge at approximately 2800 feet. Truly a superior snowflake in every regard.

This loser found his "loser" balloon north of Mt. Bliss at an elevation of 3500'. The balloon had no graphics or maker's mark, because it's a loser.

Dude, that fell off Santa's sleigh.

Sean looks like Santa Claus

This was a fun day collecting 32 balloons in the canyon.