A bit late for this and four years or so since my last post (i was actually here for the skunk thread but that got solved) . . . . . but thought I'd share my total eclipse experience.
I drove down to central Idaho, passed through Arco and Mackay, then found a specific spot on the side of an obscure gravel road (route 135), waded across the waist-deep East Fork Big Lost River (a little dicey), hiked up 10,012 foot Porphyry Peak (just under 3,000 feet altitude gain over about 7 km), camped up there overnight, then watched the eclipse alone the next morning.
The river is only crossable in August and September and this is a seldom-visited place. A cattle track for a while then route-finding after that. I'd see some horseshoe tracks sometimes and, very occasionally, the outline of a human shoe tread. That night, looking down on everything, I didn't see a single light anywhere.
I had some fanciful notion that, from a great height and with a long view, I might be able to see the shadow coming and going at 2,000 mph. That would have been awesome but didn't happen.
At totality, from the top of the mountain, the eclipse was a 360 degree ring of fire in all directions - sunrise/sunset everywhere and all around. That was the most remarkable thing I hadn't expected. Really amazing.
And high above, of course, you could look directly at the sun's corona flaring visibly while the core was blotted out by the moon.
The darkness came gradually and then accelerated rapidly through the final minutes. It had been a toasty morning but the temp dropped about 15-20 C or more and it was freezing.
I did not see a shadow of darkness coming or going. Maybe you need to be in space for that. Forest fire smoke was like LA smog on a bad day below me. I could only see the tops of the 12,000-13,000 foot mountains about 10 miles away towards MacKay. it had been a clear view the night before.
Didn't take tons of photos as I was just in the moment that lasted only a few minutes . . . . . and I knew capable guys like Neeper would be all over that.
Then I walked down the mountain - a fairly unpleasant, steep, slippery, grind lasting some miles before a flatter, long walk beside a creek. Then waded the river again, choked some dust walking a gravel road to the vehicle and finally got outta there like everyone else (traffic was light going to Salmon on the Nez Perce Scenic Byway).
A fun experience.
Below, first view of Porphyry Peak, 10,012 feet, after rounding a bend. I programmed some waypoints into my Garmin InReach which basically said follow the creek to 8,000 feet, turn right, climb the ridge, then follow the ridge to the top. Not rocket science. I was a bit worried about rattlesnakes but didn't see any. It would have been only the second tme I've ever stepped on a rattler in Idaho - that happened in 1980 on a thru-cycle trip when I was going through some tall grass down to a river for water.
Below, totality . . . . . . . sunrise/sunset in all directions, 360 degrees of the compass. Cellphone pic but the horizon is correct. It just looked tilted because of distance. Really interesting phenomenon.
Walking down the mountain, towards Castle Rock below and then the valley beyond. The eclipse came from the right. I was about 7 miles from the eclipse centre line.
Fun experience.
Solar Eclipse Aug 21 2017
