Eclipse viewing in Casper, WY

[classical_Liberal]

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[classical_Liberal]

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[jennypenny]

I just flew home from Rapid City. All the locals were talking about the flood of people coming in and there was lots of talk on the local news about traffic jams. If you haven't left yet, I'd hit the road ASAP.

[C40]

I don't know much about the Casper area.

I also don't know exactly how much difference it makes to be in an area with little light pollution... I'm sure it's way less different than getting as close as possible to the center of the eclipse path, but still, it will make some amount of difference, and this map is very good for knowing where the light pollution and dark areas are:
http://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html

If you're looking for a place to camp, this post I made recently for aspiring van-dwellers may be useful: https://www.patreon.com/posts/finding-free-to-13800037

[classical_Liberal]

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[C40]

(just an FYI, that post I linked isn't specific to being in a van at all and would apply for car/tent camping just as much)

[classical_Liberal]

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[enigmaT120]

I will watch from the parking lot here at work. It would be cool to be in a more open area so that I could see the moon shadow come from farther away, but I'll survive. How fast do I have to run to be followed, rather than overran, by a moon shadow?

[George the original one]

I went camping on Thurs and came home, as scheduled, on Sat to avoid any potential eclipse traffic jams. My plan was to fish for trout in the reservoirs on the upper Clackamas River in Oregon, just south of Mt. Hood. Only thing is the access roads were all closed due to "eclipse emergency". For some reason the authorities think the reservoirs and pipelines are at higher risk of an attack during the eclipse and, just to make sure an attack doesn't occur, closed the roads early last week. This is an area some miles north of the totality, so it appears to me more as an excuse to justify emergency preparedness exercises into action.

By closing those roads, it actually meant the regular weekend campers & traffic were more congested than normal because, like me, people were now trying to figure out how to make their vacation/weekend plans work. People aiming for certain campgrounds arrived to find they couldn't get to them. People trying to take a normally open shortcut to their destination had to take a 10+ mile obscure detour.

In my case, I just fished different waters in the area, catching and releasing a number of under-sized trout, and then catching a spring chinook salmon which had to be released because, well, it was up in the spawning grounds and the deadline for salmon fishing is 20-30 miles downstream from where I caught it.

[C40]

I will watch from the parking lot here at work. It would be cool to be in a more open area so that I could see the moon shadow come from farther away, but I'll survive. How fast do I have to run to be followed, rather than overran, by a moon shadow?

The moon appears to orbits the earth in pretty close to 24 hours (it actually doesn't, but what matters is the relative position in the sky, and that's about one rotation per 24 hours). The earth's circumference is about 24,000 miles. If I'm making the right assumptions, that means the shadow will move at about 1,000 miles per hour. That's pretty fast running. But you wouldn't see any hard shadow anyways, the sun will just gradually get dimmer and then gradually get brighter, right?

[classical_Liberal]

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[Riggerjack]

We're near Salem Oregon, for Oregheddon, 2017. We left Marysville WA yesterday morning, and stop and go traffic added about 4 hours to the trip. Every field not covered in growing crops has a sign for camp spaces to rent. The schools are blockaded to keep eclipsers out. I'm thinking the lower population areas are probably going to be easier. Stores are running shortages, gas stations running dry, etc. I expect some disastrous pileups as everyone tries to beat the traffic home. Be safe.

[jennypenny]

@C40 -- Are you camped out somewhere to watch it? If so, are you going to take pics? I love your photos.

[Laura Ingalls]

(just an FYI, that post I linked isn't specific to being in a van at all and would apply for car/tent camping just as much)

I figured as much, I just wanted to sound badass. Last night I camped along the Missouri River near Chamberlain SD. A gorgeous oasis in the middle of 100's of miles of nothing but farmland in a drive through I90 in southern SD. Evidently, the land next to the river is national or state park land? 14 days of free camping signs posted.

There are several army corp campgrounds in that area. I have never known them or SD state parks to be free. It might have been a city campground. Lots of places in SD have a city campground that is free or close to it.

Was it windy as all get out? Did you eat at Al's Oasis just west of the river? I am suddenly nostalgic for SD, I am sure a visit would fix that

My plan was to drive to Northern Missouri about two hours drive from home. Oh well, it does look like it might be slightly clearer South of here.

[C40]

@C40 -- Are you camped out somewhere to watch it? If so, are you going to take pics? I love your photos.

Nope. I haven't gotten excited at all about the eclipse. I watched some videos about it to see if they might stir me to go up to Wyoming or something, but they didn't at all. I don't really see what all the fuss is about. I think a sunset is a more spectacular thing.


I'm in Moab right now and I think there's supposed to be about 85% coverage here at the maximum, which, I can see when I look through my poor man's eclipse glasses (three pairs of sunglasses stacked), but if I wasn't aware it was happening, I never would've noticed. I guess you really need to have it all blocked out for it to be a big deal.

[enigmaT120]

I just saw it here in Albany, OR. Less than two minutes of totality, I think. My iPhone took a lousy pic, not worth saving. I'm glad I didn't waste my time trying to get pictures. I liked it but I don't know that I would chase around the world to see more of them. I just stared at it.

[Ego]

A thousand people gathered between the natural history and science museums to view our partial eclipse. Peak eclipse here was 10:23. People nearby started packing up at 10:20 so we asked for their glasses then shared them with passing strangers. Among the many people we met were a nice tourist family from Italy, another from somewhere in Asia and a new retiree from our local PBS station. Ms. PBS is preparing her home so she can register for a house-swap service and spend a few months each year in Scandinavia. She and Mrs. Ego are now best friends who will be attending one another's art/yoga classes. The moon passed in front of the sun.

[George the original one]

Oregon coastal areas have been devoid of tourists. Partly because totality zone had fog/cloud layer. Up here in the Seaside area, there was zero traffic during the eclipse apart from one or two trucks. 98.2% totality was about the same as putting on my pair of fishing sunglasses; much brighter light than a full moon on a clear night and not even as dark as sunset.

[classical_Liberal]

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[Laura Ingalls]

Thanks for the details classical liberal. I have camped in the area before. I remember camping in Oacoma and listening to the tent flapping all night long in a strong wind. Otherwise it was perfect. The food at Al's is actually pretty good in a place with poor restaurants.

Palisades State Park is a pretty place in Eastern SD. Cool pink quartzite cliffs and lots of hiking. Chief Black Elk said that the Black Hills were the center of the universe. He also said that the center of the universe is wherever you are.

Our eclipse experience was a bit of dud. We drove out of rain to the totality zone and it promptly started raining there too. We watch just north of the totality zone and saw some peaking through the clouds.