Solar Eclipse 2017---Thinking of Boondocking???

[Jack Mayer]

All the camping and RV "lots" at Carhenge are booked. I'd NEVER go into the Toadstock grounds. That will be total party central and not my kinda "scene".....

[pethier]

Camping at Eagle Ridge in Eagleville MO.  Leave at the crack of dawn to get to Lathrop MO 70 miles away.  Hope the rest stop on 35 hasn't been filled for two days already when we get there.  Maybe the highway patrol will kick out all the overnighters, I dunno.

[Jim & Alice]

8 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

I'd NEVER go into the Toadstock grounds. That will be total party central and not my kinda "scene".....

Jack, do you know the place?   My wife and I are Baptists... not much of a party crowd.

Our plans are to make Aug. 21 a LONG day... drive to Alliance early, enjoy the Eclipse, then drive back to Hart Ranch - no overnight.   We've booked nothing yet, but at minimum we desire a place with parking/viewing space, port-a-johns, and friendly/accessible to those driving in from the north.   

[bobsallyh]

Story about the great Eclipse Rip Off 2017. Wonder how many more across the US ?

http://democratherald.com/news/local/hotel-eclipse-practices-draw-state-scrutiny/article_4734e9db-ab60-501c-a0e2-36d500fa2133.html

[Jack Mayer]

13 hours ago, jlapeer said:

Jack, do you know the place?   My wife and I are Baptists... not much of a party crowd.

Our plans are to make Aug. 21 a LONG day... drive to Alliance early, enjoy the Eclipse, then drive back to Hart Ranch - no overnight.   We've booked nothing yet, but at minimum we desire a place with parking/viewing space, port-a-johns, and friendly/accessible to those driving in from the north.   

That may work, but I'd have a plan B in mind. Because if any of the predictions on traffic and number of people are true you will be very disappointed. First, the eclipse starts out pretty early in the morning.....second, most major access roads to the totality areas are going to be slow going at BEST.  Alliance alone is expecting over 100K people. That seems "strong" to me, but possible. If that is the case, you will likely NOT be able to access the area the morning of the Eclipse. 

[Jim & Alice]

53 minutes ago, Jack Mayer said:

That may work, but I'd have a plan B in mind.

Yes, I would agree - We have a number of folks going, and one of our constraints is that we have only Monday off from workamping... So a potential scenario is to leave in the 0-dark-30 hours of that morning, and see how close to Alliance we can get.   That is why we did the dry run last weekend... to check out the sites, back roads, and routes.

One way or another, we're going! Should be fun no matter how things turn out.

  

[pethier]

On 7/30/2017 at 2:17 PM, Jack Mayer said:

the eclipse starts out pretty early in the morning

Huh?   I thought it was mid-day.  In MO, it is about 1:00 PM CDT.

[Pat & Pete]

6 minutes ago, pethier said:

Huh?   I thought it was mid-day.  In MO, it is about 1:00 PM CDT.

Don't worry . When everything gets kinda dark too soon , you'll know it's happening .

[Pat & Pete]

https://www.livescience.com/60001-total-solar-eclipse-earth-moon-alignment-future.html

[Ray,IN]

On 8/1/2017 at 8:12 AM, pethier said:

Huh?   I thought it was mid-day.  In MO, it is about 1:00 PM CDT.

Depend upon where you are, Oregon or South Carolina, Portland Oregon the period of totality is 10:19AM.

That however, beginning to end, lasts about  2H, 32', 9", which means you should be in-place NLT 08:30.

 

BTW, if you plan to take pictures of the event make sure you buy a solar filter for your camera, don't look through the viewfinder-use the video screen. And, make sure it works, no do-overs.

[pethier]

9 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

BTW, if you plan to take pictures of the event make sure you buy a solar filter for your camera, don't look through the viewfinder-use the video screen. And, make sure it works, no do-overs.

Shouldn't need to worry about camera filter DURING TOTALITY, which is when I am interested in direct pictures.  I will have cheap solar glasses for my eyes during the non-total part.  

 

BTW, what manual settings would you use shooting totality with a Cannon Rebel?  I have a 500mm f8 mirror lens.

[Al F]

9 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

Depend upon where you are, Oregon or South Carolina, Portland Oregon the period of totality is 10:19AM.

That however, beginning to end, lasts about  2H, 32', 9", which means you should be in-place NLT 08:30.

 

BTW, if you plan to take pictures of the event make sure you buy a solar filter for your camera, don't look through the viewfinder-use the video screen. And, make sure it works, no do-overs.

Just to be clear, there is no totality in Portland.  You will need to go about 30 miles south to Salem for totality.  On the news, a day or two ago, there was a report that Salem is expecting about 200,000 visitors in a city of about 170,000.  Going to be a mess, even if the ONLY have 100,000 visitors. 

[pethier]

 

[moses195]

I'm in Port Angeles and was going to go and find the eclipse til I started reading about the influx expected! 1 million people are expected in OR alone. I found 1 motel room in Newport for $1013 for 1 nite lol. Boondocking 30 miles east for $200/2 nites! Still thinking about what I want to do at this point.

[Kirk W]

We have family & friends who live just outside of the path of totality and considered going up but if they are right about the crowds, I'll just wait for TV coverage. It looks like everyone in the path is trying to make a fortune on one event. 

I wonder if they will actually get the expected crowds?  All of the way across the entire country it will be standing room only? Hard to believe. 

 

[Al F]

This week we are heading to the mountains near John Day, OR, to get set up in a boondocking spot for the eclipse.

To get some idea of what to expect for the weather and our chances to see or not see the eclipse, I went to Weather Underground and looked at the August monthly history calendar for the last 7 years for Central Oregon, near the town of John Day.

Here is a table of the August weather from 2010 through 2016 that was recorded at the airport at John Day:

Year	Clear Days	Scattered Clouds	Thunder Storms	Rain
2016	27	2	0	2
2015	17	7	5	2
2014	14	3	12	2
2013	18	5	6	2
2012	26	0	1	4
2011	25	1	4	1
2010	20	7	3	1

If you want to know the history of the weather were you are planning on going to see the eclipse, go to  https://www.wunderground.com/  type in the city/state you are going to, then scroll down to the Almanac section. At the bottom of the Almanac table select “August Calendar View”. This will bring up the 2017 calendar. Change the year to 2016 or earlier and it will show the weather history for August of that year. You can get the history for the last 20-40 years for most locations.

 

 

[Vladimir]

AL F,

Where did you end up?? PM me. We are going to be at Long Creek. I spent four or five days looking for a boondocking spot and then talked to FS. Long story short....ended up in Long Creek.