The Great American Eclipse of 2017
As seen by Nancy Collins and Pete Sole
August 2017, Grand Tetons and Casper, Wyoming, USA
Brief Summary:
After a year of planning, anticipation and persistent logistics work by Nancy, Nancy and Pete were able to take a wonderful 2 week vacation to the Grand Tetons National Park in western Wyoming, with an intermission to Casper Wyoming to see the 2017 Great American Eclipse.
The Trip by Dates:
Aug 15th
We flew from San Jose California to Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah.
After an approximate 6 hours drive from Salt Lake City we arrived at Colter Bay, Grand Teton NP, Wyoming. The next day Pete snapped this image in the morning:
In restrospect, Nancy was right, we should have flown to Jackson Hole Wyoming instead of driving.
The Grand Teton Mountain Range is facinating from a geological standpoint. It is a young mountain range less than 9 million years old, and relatively small, only about 40 miles from north to south, (much broader east to west). Young age is partly why the peaks are so jagged. Erosion and other geologic effects have not had time to smooth out the peaks. The range is located at the edge of a fault, caused by stretching, thining, and fractures in the North American plate, due in part to the Mantle hotspot under Yellowstone. The land west of the fault line, The Grand Teton Range, is being raised, while the land east of the fault line, Jackson Hole, is sinking.
Aug 15th through Aug 18th
We experienced the Grand Tetons and adjusted to the 7000+ feet gain in elevation. We met wonderful people including a very nice couple from Wisconsin that treated us to ice-cream one evening, in exchange for great laughs! Pete later gave them a bar of chocolate, after determining during a fun conversation that it would be put to good use. Once back home, they kindly wrote to tell us that the chocolate bar had been appropriately consumed with all the ceremony and honors that such things entail.
Aug 16th
We enjoyed a dinner ($5 donation per head) and a talk by Dr. Myers , a professor at the University of Wyoming. The talk: "Eclipses, Einstein, Eddington, and the Shattered Star That Has Yet to Shatter" was terrific! It went through a little science history as to how eclipses were used to test, and confirm, Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
Aug 18th
Drove from Colter Bay to Casper WY. We crossed the Continental Divide about 1.5 hours east of Colter Bay at over 9000 feet.
Arriving after lunch, we signed in at AstroCon 2017, the astronomical convention we attended. AstroCon is the yearly convention for The Astronomical League, an umbrella society for hundreds of amateur astronomy organizations. That evening we went to the Star-Barbecue. A bit of a waste, except for the migrating Common Nighthawks that Pete saw flying by.
Aug 19th
First trial run of sun photography.
Pete determined he needed a better glass filter to photograph the eclipse with the "big" lens (Canon 500mm F4 ISL USM). The films of the less expensive solar filters were not going to cut it. He also talked to some very nice local folks at "South Mike Sedar Park", the wonderful little park where we planned to see the eclipse.
While Pete photographed the sun and practiced eclipse timings, Nancy enjoyed talks at AstroCon. In the afternoon Pete joined her and bought a new solar filter for the big lens. Later in the afternoon, Pete went for a swim at the hotel pool.
In the evening we attended the AstroCon Awards Banquet, where we were even more amped up by a talk about the upcoming eclipse
by Mr.Eclipse: Fred Espenak. Fred is probably, THE premier world expert on Eclipse Photography. By dumb luck, we ended up at Fred's table during dinner.
Aug 20th
Pete tried another trial run at eclipse photography in the morning, but again got distracted, often talking to very nice folks about the upcomming eclipse.
Meanwhile, Nancy enjoyed more talks at AstroCon. In the afternoon we checked out the Tate Geological Museum. After dinner, we attended a talk called "Science is Sexy" by Ira Flatow, an NPR science reporter. A 2010 version of the talk is here.
Aug 21st - ECLIPSE DAY
We drove about 10 minuntes to South Mike Sedar Park at approximately 7am. After setting up, Pete looked at and took hundreds of solar and eclipse pictures:
Prior to Totality Pete played town crier, calling out key timings leading up to a few minutes before Totality.
The population density of at South Mike Sedar Park was just right. Enough to keep it fun and share with many including Vook, a young Canadian filmaker from Toronto, an extended family from Colorado, and many more. The size of the "crowd" was small enough for everybody to have plenty of space yet share a common experience. Google, and JPL, were also at the park, running a collaborative experiment to photograph the eclipse every 60 or so miles across the US.
Aug 22nd
We leisurely drove back to Colter Bay. Enjoyed birding along the way, the wide open spaces, and low population density in western Wyoming.
Aug 22nd through Aug 26th.
Again we enjoyed Grand Tetons NP and saw a variety of birds and animals including Dusky Grouse, Bald Eagles, American Bison, and Proghorn Antelope. One highlight included a visit to the Laurence S. Rockefeller Preserve Center . A beautiful building in a wonderful land parcel, within the National Park.
Aug. 26th
Drove from Colter Bay to Salt Lake City and arrived home to Soquel, CA via a flight to San Jose, CA.
Aug. 27th
One day to rest and recover before Pete flew out to Seattle for work.