Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017
Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017
This is going to be a more "ordinary" weblog entry than my usual "article" style of entry. I just feel compelled to write about my experience today.
A bit under two months ago my friend Eugene convinced me to change all my summer plans and go see the total eclipse of the sun. I had been planning to go to Yellowstone during the second half of July and to the Grand Canyon during the second half of August. I had basically forgotten about the eclipse, or had decided something like "no big deal, I'll catch the next one." Not exactly the best perspective to have when faced with long intervals between events and a finite lifetime.
So, I cancelled my planned July trip to Yellowstone because I'd be traveling to the same part of the world in August and I cancelled my planned trip to the Grand Canyon because it had a direct date conflict with the eclipse. I had decided that a likely "best location" for me to travel to would be Arco, Idaho. Of course there were no open spots at any campgrounds or RV parks anywhere in the path of totality. I did, however, find that there was room for tent camping at the Twin Falls KOA, 100 miles from Arco. While KOA is not my usual preference for camping -- its a little too developed for my taste -- it seemed like a very convenient place to have as a base. A few weeks before the event I contacted the owner of the Mountain Man Trading Post outside of Arco and got permission to camp overnight in his parking lot the evening before the eclipse.
The plan that shaped up was to reserve space at the KOA for the two nights before the eclipse and one night after. I could then do weather research early on the day before the eclipse and figure out where the most clear sky cover would be and have enough time to drive 300+ miles to a good location. My roadtrip car is a VW Westfalia camper, so I can camp in just about any flat spot not in direct traffic. On the day before the eclipse I found that the weather near Arco would be essentially cloud free, so I was able to proceed without any last minute change in plan and camp at the Mountain Man Trading Post.
The morning of the eclipse my son and I had a very good breakfast at the Mountain Man Trading Post. Biscuits and gravy for me and pancake and bacon for him. The food was very good, as I already knew from previous visits. Frankly, I have no clear idea how the trading post stays in business because their prices are so low.
After breakfast we joined a few handfuls of people in the parking lot and waited for the sun to go out. In the hour before the eclipse I pointed out that the trees made interesting shadows, with a plurality of crescent shaped images of the sun cast into the shadows by the small gaps between the tree's leaves. The gaps act as pinhole cameras and make images of the sky. Normally the pinhole images of the sun in a tree's shadow are unremarkable, being overlapping, circular pools of light. However, when the circular pools turn to crescent shapes they become quite striking.
As totality neared, I made an attempt to capture the rapidly advancing shadow of the moon on the western landscape using the slow motion video recording feature of my phone. No real success. Then totality was upon us.
Yup, Eugene was right. An eclipse with totality is very, very different than a partial eclipse without. Very different. Spooky different. Words actually fail.
A few minutes after the moon's disc slid enough to the eastern side of the sun that the day became light again I shot another photo of the "eclipse tree" shadow. The crescents were well defined. Then we went inside the trading post and had lunch.
I had a the owner's special German Rueben sandwich and my son had a ham and cheese. When the cook has a favorite dish it is usually a good indication that it ought to be tried. That was a damn good Rueben sandwich. Over the meal we talked a bit with the other people who had been there for the eclipse. It is remarkable how different from the day-to-day human interactions are when founded in a common, shared experience. We all saw the same thing and it made us feel that we had a shared base of communication, as if misunderstandings were, temporarily at least, nearly impossible. It was one of those times when talking to people you don't know was actually a pleasure, not a strain (you know, the kind of strain that comes from being too wary of saying the wrong thing).
After lunch we drove west on highway 93, past the Craters of the Moon National Monument, while listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album in an 82 VW Westfalia camper.
Perfect.
Monday, August 21, 2017
by David Woolsey