LEWISTON — The balloons that launched from the Great Falls Balloon Festival on Friday morning at  Simard-Payne Memorial Park made it back to Earth safely and in good shape.

One balloon landed in Lewiston easily enough. But getting it from the landing site was another story.

Joel Jones of Alabama landed his Windspirit balloon at the Casella Waste Systems facility on River Road. The landing was fine and safe, but the balloon’s ground crew couldn’t access it. They would have had to drive over an area the facility needed to protect.

So the balloon crew and passengers carried the balloon, basket and propane tanks out — piece by piece.

Check out video and photos from the festival.

The Sun Journal is covering the Great Falls Balloon Festival with:

• Livestream video of the 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. launches Friday, Saturday and Sunday at SunJournal.com

• Facebook Live video and photos from festival at Facebook.com/SunJournal

• Stories, photos and videos at SunJournal.com/BalloonFest

• Status updates at SunJournal.com/BalloonFest, Facebook.com/SunJournal and Twitter.com/SunJournal