Pittsfield HABF, Zip Rider and Thomson Falls

all in one day!
Was a nice Saturday, and having been forced to be waken up at 3am by the missus seemed worth it. I don't think I would have made it on my own :D
The plan was to see the morning 6am ascent of the Pittsfield Hot Air Balloon festival in New Hampshire.
The day was again gloomy and overcast and the ascent was delayed.
Finally, one after another the balloons started inflating and took to the skies.
A couple of them also did a "toe-dipping" in the river that flows next to it .. you have to see it to believe it .. the skill involved and its a joy to watch.
We even took a tethered Balloon ride and was a lot of fun. We could only imagine how the actual balloon ride would be.






An Hour Glass. This was the "toe-dipping" part of the balloon flight.
The pilot goes up and then comes down and skims on the surface of the water .. a joy to watch.






A local breakfast place, was charming with counter tabel tops and the Breakfast was perfect diner food .. greasy spoons ahoy!

Once we were done there, we decided to head up north toward Conway and beyond. The plan was for some water action at the Saco river but the overcast day changed our minds and we went on to the next item on the itinerary - Zip Rider at the Wildcat mountain. There was a long wait so we hiked a short distance to the promising Thomson Falls. The incessant rains meant that we would see the falls i all its glory, but the trail was soggy and mucky all the way.
The falls itself is gorgeous, the lower lip of the falls fans out and you can sit very close to the falls .. giving it an intimate feel.
More information on the falls here.
This site has good information about how to get there and tips for photographing the falls.





After heading back from the Falls, it was time for the Zip Rider.
The missus decided to give it a pass, having acute motion sickness, and decied to wit on my review.
I went up the ski chair lifts with a little trepidation, the cost of the Zip rider comes with the bonus of the chair lift which provides some amazing views of the surrounding hills, in particular Mt Washington.
The rider itself was a lot of fun and not at all scary .. will be going back there soon.


Some other knick-knack pics along the way ..