PENDLETON — Early Friday morning, June 21, a new visitor graced the Pendleton skies. Locals in pajamas gawked outside their homes as the sheep-shaped hot air balloon floated a few hundred feet above their roofs.

The sheep’s name is Montie the Black Sheep, a Meridian, Idaho, resident along with his owners Greg and Angela Ashton.

The Ashtons first spotted him in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in October 2019.

By that year, Montie had flown in Turkey, the Philippines and all across the United States.

Their previous prized balloon was in the shape of the Liberty Bell, and had been in the air since 1987.

Angela and Greg by 2020 knew a new balloon was a necessity, and Montie had been on their radar since the previous year.

The Ashtons own Treasure Valley Balloon Rides, a hot air balloon touring company based in the Boise area.

While Montie is available for balloon tours at a pricier cost, the other two traditional balloons are more commonly used.

Tours usually occur during the sunrise hours, but can happen in the middle or end of the day if the wind is calm enough.

On the day of a ride, the mornings start early, with a predawn wake-up call to arrive by daybreak. Montie is in an enclosed trailer, along with the balloon’s basket, ropes and other tools to piece the barnyard animal together. Takeoff locations are in open fields, giving plenty of space for the 90-foot balloon. The crew sends up two pie-balls — small black helium balloons — to test the winds for the flight.

Most balloons only take a three to four-person team to assemble, but the hefty sheep takes a minimum of six. Sitting at 600 pounds and 105,000 cubic feet, Montie takes around 20 minutes to fully inflate. Similar to other balloons, cold air is first blown into the balloon with a large fan, opening it up.

While inflating, all eyes have to be on a balloon. With Montie especially, there are five deflation panels in his head, all fastened shut with fabric fastener. Only one fan is needed for Montie, even though he is larger than a normal-sized balloon at around 90,000 cubic feet.

During the setup, each crew member must wear work gloves. The natural oils and dirt on anyone’s hands can break down the fabric of the balloon, which is not very thick.

After cold air fills the balloon, the crew heats the air with propane-fueled fire, allowing the balloon to stand upright. The fire comes out of burners at the top of the basket, connected to the propane tanks sitting at the bottom of the basket.

The pilot periodically turns the burners on and off, acclimating the balloon to the weight of the individuals in the basket, which can hold up to three people.

Rising from ground level to 1,800 feet takes a balloon about 10 minutes.

Compared to the setup, navigating the floating balloon is relatively smooth. Turning vents are along the upper side of the balloon, allowing the pilot to control the orientation. With Montie, the nose protrudes from the rest of the body and tends to point in the direction the balloon is heading. The elevation is the only other aspect the pilot can control, adding and venting air out of the balloon.

“Ballooning is like a yo-yo, you’re always going up or down,” Greg Ashton said.

Gaining your pilot’s license is not a lengthy process — 10 flight hours are required for the private license and 30 for the commercial. Passing a written test is mandatory for the license. In many cases, a pilot will take a crew member under their wing and volunteer their hours, just as someone else did with them.

“That’s what happens is good crew starts helping you out, and then you start paying them back by giving them flight time,” said Brian Ashton, Greg’s brother and a fellow pilot.

The last part of the flight is objectively the hardest. While the pilot can try to steer and turn one way, the wind has the final call on where and how the balloon will land. Additional passengers sit in the bottom of the basket and brace themselves for a hard impact on dirt, uneven slopes or even pavement.

Once the balloon lands and the deflation panels are opened, Montie takes about 20 minutes to fully deflate with a crew of six — a few people hold the panels open, and some hold the balloon on down to the ground. Angela Ashton, Greg’s wife, often takes control of folding the balloon fabric into the center to ease the process of packing.

Montie explored the skies of Pendleton throughout the weekend along with 20 other balloons near the Wildhorse Resort & Casino. While the process is arduous, the result is well worth it.

As long as Greg Ashton steers Montie, he will remind the onlookers, “It’s a sheep, not a cow.”