I don't know where you learned to handle snakes like that, Tad, but you sound like you knew what you were doing, so I'll resist the temptation to label you 'nuts'. =) I'm glad it worked out for all concerned. I'd have been in the "won't get within striking range times twenty" camp...
In any event, it sounds like all of your preparation paid off. I wasn't nearly as prepared and it didn't go quite so smoothly for me, but it worked out well enough in the end.
On the morning of the 21st I left my cabin in Yellowstone at 5:00 AM and soon found myself also part of a southbound procession. Traffic still flowed smoothly however so it didn't cause any delays, and once I turned east to leave Grand Teton National Park I largely had the road to myself. I'm pretty sure most people staying in Yellowstone were headed to viewing areas in Grand Teton or Jackson, but I had concerns about crowds and clouds from the mountains.
Like you, I had several waypoints in my GPS, and given the lack of traffic punched in my first choice at Union Pass in Shoshone National Forest. Unfortunately, my GPS picked the shortest route to the waypoint, which in this case was far from the easiest. After a few bone-jarring miles on an unmaintained road I reached a muddy impasse and had to resign myself to the fact that I wasn't getting any further. Not wanting to risk the time loss in going all the way back and finding another route or viewing location, I just turned around and pulled into a clearing in the trees a short ways down. The sun was high enough that it would be easily visible, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I wouldn't get a good view of the horizon, but this was good enough for me.
Tad Eareckson wrote:No brainer that you at least got a completely unobstructed view from C1 through C4.
Not so much a no-brainer with me at the helm. =) That's what I get for relying too much on technology...
My dad came with me on this trip. Joining us in the clearing were four backpackers from Colorado. They had diverted to this area due to a threat of clouds at their first choice further east but wanted to avoid the crowds at Union Pass. No 'heavy artillery' but they did have some homemade stuff including a binocular projector.
As for us, all I had were some plastic eclipse glasses and cheap unfiltered 7x50 binoculars for totality. My dad had solar filters for his binoculars and SLR camera. My thinking: if I wanted to observe solar features, I could do that any day. The main show for me was totality, which I expected would be best experienced with the naked eye (though I didn't realize Baily's Beads would only be visible with magnification).
I noticed temperature dropping probably 20 minutes before totality, even before there was a noticeable drop in daylight. Our elevation was somewhere around 9,000' and by the time things
were getting noticeably darker I had to put on my heavy jacket.
I had no app to announce phases, but none was necessary. I was transfixed on the sun in the final moments, watching through my glasses as the remaining sliver of orange shrank from both ends before my eyes. At the same time, my peripheral vision took in the darkness descending over the forest around me. Then, the sliver was gone, and the glasses came off.
Tad Eareckson wrote:Looking up minus magnification and protection at this black hole surrounded by a glowing white corona is the most unworldly thing you'll ever experience.
I couldn't have said it better. It wasn't the sun, but it wasn't the moon; it was like some foreign celestial body hovering in the sky overhead. I let out a few hushed exclamations but mostly watched the show in silence (broken only by the sound of my dad's camera - I wasn't gonna mess with photos myself).
Two minutes and twenty seconds does seem like a long time watching a clock, but it was over far too soon. A spark of light appeared at the edge of the black hole, I put my glasses back on, and the shadow quickly lifted over the forest. It was only some time after that I realized I was so mesmerized by the sight I never once touched the binoculars around my neck.
We brought sandwich material and enjoyed a picnic lunch as we watched the remainder of partiality.
Here are a couple of pics my dad snapped. He's far from a professional but I thought they came out alright.
While the eclipse took the cake in terms of amazing things I saw on this trip, Yellowstone was a great experience as well. While the thermal features stood out the most to me (I really enjoyed learning about how life, from microbes to bison, has adapted to take advantage of them), there was some great scenery (especially the canyon), innumerable waterfalls, diverse hiking, and some decent wildlife sightings (though no bears, moose, or wolves).
Tad Eareckson wrote:In Gardiner there were Elk hanging out on the lawn behaving like petting zoo animals.
Tell me about it. I stayed three nights in Mammoth not far from Gardiner and it was the same there. This was taken not far from my cabin:
Where specifically were you looking for grizzlies?
I hit the Beaver Ponds trail from Mammoth (which goes into Montana very close to Gardiner) at 7:00 AM Friday (8/25) hoping to catch something good but all I got were some ducks (Ruddy, I believe). Incidentally, I was able to pick up a cell signal when we reached an overlook of Gardiner along the trail, one of the few times I had reception on this trip. It was only then that I learned about Harvey (less than a day before landfall).
Despite going on several day hikes, my best wildlife sightings were just off the road. We encountered a herd of mountain goats on our way in via Beartooth Pass, although there wasn't any place to pull over to observe them. My dad neverthless got a shot through the window:
Then there was the coyote hunting something in a meadow just off the road:
We saw a few Ospreys, including this nest in the canyon:
Tad Eareckson wrote:Got a great female Common Merganser tearing down the rapids of the Sun River.
Got a few of those (I think) swimming up the Bechler River:
Also near the river were a pair of Gray Jays (again, I think...) that were surprisingly curious about us considering this is one of the least visited areas of the park.
Other than that, lots of geese, ravens, pelicans, a couple of grouse, a few Redtails, mule deer, and, of course, the ubiquitous bison.
Now to edit 30 GB worth of video...