Grabbed a hotel reservation outside the zone for about half the price of the few I could find within the zone (downstate Illinois). But still only an hour away from the totality line. Since I can cancel up to 12hrs before the reservation, I figure I’ll be safe to check against storms and stuff and will just have to wing it and hope for the best regarding overcast skies.
Great link! Thank you!
Absolutely you need eclipse glasses. You can look at the eclipse just fine without them when the eclipse is total, but ONLY when it’s total. You WILL damage your eyes if you look at the sun for too long when the eclipse is not total. That’s even 1% not total. If you have the glasses you will be able to look at the sun before totality and see it being gradually ‘eaten’ by the moon.
For those of you who want to combine the eclipse with a bicycle tour, Cycle Greater Yellowstone will be in Driggs, ID for the eclipse.
I did CGY in 2014 – the routes a bit more miles than I prefer (especially considering the hills) but overall a good tour. The 2014 route started /ended in Teton Village. Went over Teton Pass on day 1 and Togwatee pass on the last day (we entered Grand Teton but they bussed us through the park)
Note that the route is not complete yet for 2017
Brian
Where there any in the 60’s or early 70’s?
And
what is the big deal? Its interesting but its not the end of the world…
We recently booked in S Ill. Mt Vernon. Had no problem - several options. Had tried earlier, but hotels wouldn’t take reservations more than a year out. My wife used to be in an astronomy club. They booked a block of rooms there, but we chose another place that will accept dogs. Mt Vernon is close to the center of totality, and has ready access to major highways that could take you east or west should final forecasts make conditions look better a couple hundred miles one way or the other.
I’ve been planning this trip for 2 years.
Of course, on the one-year away mark, the news makes a big deal about it, so the only place we could find that had accommodations was a 3-hour drive away from our viewing spot!
I’m considering buying two more cameras just for this event - I’ll buy them used and sell them after I’m done. Probably two Nikon D610s, since even a used D810 is too expensive. That would give me three cameras plus a couple of iPhones (for video).
I think people make too big of a deal about the eye danger. Your eyes are actually very good about warning you about the danger. The only rule you need to know is that if it hurts to look at it, then don’t look at it. A brief glance at the partially-eclipsed Sun will be exactly as dangerous as a brief glance at the normal Sun, which most people end up doing multiple times per day.
I was under the impression that during an eclipse the danger is that the sun can be damaging without it hurting so people look at the sun for longer periods of time and cause damage.
I don’t really know myself since I’ve never seen one.
No, we don’t.
Wouldn’t a super villain plan of stealing a car and driving a few hundred miles be cheaper?
I think that’s more pedestrian villain.
Well, until you get the car.
Dinsdale, thanks for the heads up on Mt Vernon. I think I tried there before the one-year mark so wasn’t having any luck. Sounds like a better hotel location than I had.
Yeah, by coincidence this line passes over my house. But this part of Oregon is very sparsely populated and there’s tons of space, so I don’t anticipate much problem. I-5 can handle a lot of traffic, and there’s a fair number of other routes for locals.
For those who don’t know Oregon weather: despite the “constant rain” meme, there’s little or no rain in the summer, and August is very unlikely to be rainy or overcast. If this were in January, instead, no one in the Pacific Northwest would see it. In August, everybody will.
Neat. We saw a total eclipse in Jun 2001 and another total eclipse in Dec 2002. This one will miss us.
The real issue is when the eclipse is very close to totality.
People think that because 99.9% of the Sun’s surface is obscured, it’s safe to look at, but the tiny limb still exposed can easily cause eye damage.
You are correct that it is highly unlikely to be raining in Oregon in August but I think a lot of people who are planning to watch it make landfall on the coast are going to be very disappointed.
Two words: Ocean fog! Foggy mornings, afternoon sun. At 9:00-10:00am it is highly likely to be socked in pea soup or low clouds.
The valley will probably be clear, anything Salem or east should be fine. But if you have booked a room in Depoe Bay start crying now.
Here are various Oregon Coast webcams. It is going to be a great afternoon today, temps near 80 F, right now at the time the eclipse will happen, not so much. Take a look around 9:00 am PDT some day.
It’s a rare event.
Most people will only have the opportunity to one or two total eclipses in their lifetime, unless they are willing to travel to view it. Some people will never see one.
So, like all rare events, it holds a lot of attraction to some people.
As for me - I like astrophotography. It’s a considerable challenge, and that’s one of the things that makes it exciting. As I mentioned earlier, I plan to have a minimum of three cameras for this trip, and hopefully four or more.
Corvallis is south of the centerline, so you may want to consider moving a bit closer to it. The closer you are, the longer totality lasts, to a maximum of 2 minutes here in Oregon. I plan on bicycling down to my brother’s house in Salem. I tried out a halfway trial run. It took me just over an hour to get to Chehalem Summit (north of Newberg) and another half hour to the bridge over the Willamette, at which point I turned around. Should be able to make it all the way in 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
But I disagree on traffic in the Willamette Valley. At least between Portland and the eclipse line. Not only are you going to have lots of locals, but many out-of-towners who can’t find a hotel room closer.
This is true. The last eclipse in this area was in February 1979. It went right through Portland, I believe. I wasn’t here at the time (in Texas for military training), but I imagine no one saw it around here.
I witnessed totality in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, in July 1963, in Savannah, Georgia, in August(?) 1970 (very close to the path of the cited one), and other places since then, but don’t recall where/when. Is there a link to a listing of all of their paths/dates over the US? What measure of opacity is needed for the viewing implements? I think I’ve still got the smoked glass rectangle from Old Orchard.
I’ve seen several partial solar eclipses but never a full one. It looks as though the next total solar eclipse in my general neck of the woods is in 2024 and that’s it for my lifetime unless I move. Coincidentally, both next years and the 2024 one clip southern Illinois so I’d be going to the same place anyway. Hey, if it rains next year at least I have a backup plan 
Besides, it’s a good excuse for a two-day trip with my teenage son. My wife won’t want to drive downstate and back just to look at the sun so we’ll get some father-son bonding time in over relatively rare celestial events.