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Whether Iā€™m tiptoeing my way across the catwalk looming above the Barnett Arena or holding on for dear life on the edge of a cliff photographing jumpers at Hippie Hole, I canā€™t escape the shaky knees and nerves I get while looking down at the distant earth beneath my feet.

So when I found myself photographing from the edge of the basket as a propane torch launched a 245,000-cubic-foot hot air balloon more than 5,000 feet into the air, I was surprised to find that shakiness was absent.Ā 

"I'm usually afraid of heights but I'm not scared one bit," said Taylor Escott, one of the nine passengers flying in the balloon with me. "The only thing I'm afraid of is dropping my phone off the edge!"

I thought precisely the same thing as we floated west at speeds ranging from 3 to 20 mph across a forest of pine trees outside of Custer.Ā 

As Damien Mahoney, our pilot and owner of Black Hills Balloons, maneuvered the balloon, he pointed out scenes of interest.

There was a certain whimsical magic to the experience of witnessing the beauty of the area from the air. It was a visual feast for this elevation-challenged photographer. But the magic of the experience also found its way into our cramped, wicker basket.

As the balloon started to make its slow but steady descent, 21-year-old Daniel Molini faced his girlfriend of four years, Kristin Barrette, 23, and dropped on one knee.Ā 

"Will you marry me?" Molini asked as we continued to float at around 300 feet. She accepted to the cheers of the other passengers.

I suppose in the end, my initial nerves were pale in comparison to Molini's, who had planned for their moment in the sky for nine months. Ā