That’s exactly where we’ll be. We’ve driven through there many times, and wonder how crowded the roads will be.
I’ve never driven through there before but I’ll scout it out on my way up to my friend’s place in McCall. Over on expeditionPortal we’re talking about going up onto Snowbank Mountain. I certainly have not been up that Jeep trail either, and I’ll likely scout that out, too. It’d be good to be atop a mountain.
Of course, the weather will determine our destination. Heck, we may end up way east, towards Obsidian, or even Chilly ID. We shall see.
I tried two weeks ago to get a hotel room in Salem, Oregon (the closest city of any real size) and not only did no one have openings, but on the secondary market they ran $300 and up even for divey motels. It’s a lot cheaper to get a room in Portland and then travel down to Salem.
We made our reservations in Hopkinsville, KY last summer, and had to pay $400. I’m afraid that, due to gridlock, we may have to view the eclipse from the hotel’s parking lot.
In 1991, I couldn’t get a room at all, on the entire Big Island of Hawaii. I had to get a room on Maui, and fly in to the Kona Airport for the eclipse… which was mainly rained out, except for a brief break in the clouds during Totality.
I hope there’s no gridlock in western Idaho. Just in case, I might have to get up super early, maybe 2am, to make the 90-min (according to the map) drive from McCall up to Snowbank Mountain, just to get in place super early. If I find a place, it might be 4am. We can snooze a bit in the car, and I can grill some breakfast. I’d need to bring some of my tailgating gear, comfortable chairs, and a table.
Then it’s waiting it out the 5 hours until the eclipse starts at 0911. Having a bathroom nearby might be an issue.
Wow. That view will be awesome.
Excellent plan. Not that you asked.
Being old farts, Mrs. C and I will be down on the flatland with our 25’ trailer, as close as we can get to Point Zero on paved/improved roads.
Idaho is relatively unpopulated north of the totality zone, and McCall is well off the beaten path; I suspect crowds will approach from the south, Boise in particular.
BUT… I thought the eclipsing begins at 10:11 Mountain Daylight Time. ??
I didn’t realize ID is on MDT not PDT. Thanks for that. And good to know about our plan! Thanks, Mr. C.
It just occurred to me that any large parking lot within, or even relatively near, the totality zone will be packed solid, and people may make quite a bit of money charging for parking on their lawns.
Keep in mind that the totality zone is gi-freaking-normous. Something on the order of 500,000 square kilometers. There is room for every person on Earth to fit in the totality zone with their own few hundred square feet of space. You’ll be fine.
It crossed my mind last night that this may very well end up as the most photographed single event in human history.
I would really like to see this eclipse, but have procrastinated and have no plans yet.
Living in Connecticut, I’d have to fly in somewhere. Any advice as to where I might look? I need an airport within driving distance, a rental car, and a place to stay (or at least a legal campsite).
I’d like to go to Yellowstone, but expect that it was booked up long ago.
Looks like the airport in Columbia, South Carolina is in the path of totality … Nashville, Tennessee … Casper, Wyoming … I’m a little shocked at the prices, maybe driving is cheaper?
GSP is, too. And Charleston. (That’s an idea–it would be fun to watch it from a beach. Too bad it misses Myrtle–I saw Hale-Bopp from there.)
St Louis and Kansas City are very close if not within the border of totality … maybe cheaper prices for a flight into these bigger airports …
I don’t think this has been addressed: where can I see a map showing the path of partial eclipse? How far north or south would I have to be not to see any eclipsing?
I just Googled “2017 eclipse” and clicked the image button to get this page … lots of maps to choose from there …
Here’s an imprecise map. In short, the entire continental U.S. will experience some degree of eclipse.
http://addins.kwwl.com/blogs/weather/2016/08/total-solar-eclipse-occurs-august-21-2017
And here’s NASA’s site.
That should be “the entire contiguous U.S.” - not all of Alaska. And most of Canada as well.
I’m seeing that all of Alaska, and all of Canada (even the far northern reaches), will experience some partial eclipse. All of North America will, and all of Greenland will. So will all of Mexico (part of NA), and all of Central America. You can go as far south as Ecuador and Brazil, and the northern parts of those countries will get a partial eclipse.
On the eclipse maps, tap on them and C1 and C4 are the start and end of partial eclipse.
Here is Xavier Jubier’s map: USA - 2017 August 21 Total Solar Eclipse - Interactive Google Map - Xavier Jubier
eclipse2017.org has a nice page for each of the 14 states the total eclipse touches. Tap on the state to get a nice county map and listing of some communities in the path of totality.
Too late to edit. This page has good state maps.