Solar Eclipse Aug 21, 2017 (Albany, Warm Springs: moving, cars, cities)

[Jiff]

My trip report:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/mthe...017-t2482.html

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by Jiff

My trip report:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/mthe...017-t2482.html

Party! Party! PARTY! Nice collection of photos! Long line of vehicles on the highway. And those clouds looked worrisome.

[Jiff]

Originally Posted by NightBazaar

Party! Party! PARTY! Nice collection of photos! Long line of vehicles on the highway. And those clouds looked worrisome.

Party like it's the last day of sunshine . Yes, clouds reduced the contrast some. I think 1979, with a completely clear sky, was more striking. Or maybe I think that because it was my first totality experience. Not sure. After all, that was 38 years ago.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by Jiff

Party like it's the last day of sunshine . Yes, clouds reduced the contrast some. I think 1979, with a completely clear sky, was more striking. Or maybe I think that because it was my first totality experience. Not sure. After all, that was 38 years ago.

I've experienced a couple of partial eclipses, but this was the first time for a total eclipse for me as well. The sky in Albany was perfect. I thought it was a pretty interesting sight. I also spent some of the short time looking around. As far as I know, the traffic in and around Albany was pretty much normal, just like any other day. A few offices planned to be closed, and the garbage truck took the day off, so collection day will be a day later than the usual schedule. It was interesting to see all the street lights come on.

[Larry Caldwell]

I would have tried to make it to the observatory on McKenzie Pass if the highway had been open, but they had closed the highway because of fires. Still, I ended up around 4000 ft. and saw the prominences and plenty of detail in the corona. I didn't take pictures because the pros with thousands of dollars worth of equipment would do better than me.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

I would have tried to make it to the observatory on McKenzie Pass if the highway had been open, but they had closed the highway because of fires. Still, I ended up around 4000 ft. and saw the prominences and plenty of detail in the corona. I didn't take pictures because the pros with thousands of dollars worth of equipment would do better than me.

So where did you end up watching it from? I had the same problem. With all the road closures, there didn't seem to be a lot of options to get to any really high elevations. I ended up watching it at about 2,000 feet. The smoke was definitely disappointing though. But all things considered, I think Madras was the best option for me, at the time. Though I really wasn't prepared for the traffic issues on US-97. The main reasons I decided to drive to Madras instead of some place in the Willamette Valley, was because the roads were wide open, and the weather conditions seemed like they would be slightly more favorable. I knew that coming back would be worse, but I wasn't expecting what happened. If I had it to do again, I probably wouldn't have travel quite that far east. But I guess it it worked out anyway. I was not unhappy with Madras.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by NightBazaar

I've experienced a couple of partial eclipses, but this was the first time for a total eclipse for me as well. The sky in Albany was perfect. I thought it was a pretty interesting sight. I also spent some of the short time looking around. As far as I know, the traffic in and around Albany was pretty much normal, just like any other day. A few offices planned to be closed, and the garbage truck took the day off, so collection day will be a day later than the usual schedule. It was interesting to see all the street lights come on.

Interesting, when I was in Warm Springs on the morning of the eclipse I noticed a garbage truck picking up trash as usual. It looked like the entire town was just going on with business as usual. Nothing much special happening. The main event that day, they were setting up for an Indian art sale or something.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Interesting, when I was in Warm Springs on the morning of the eclipse I noticed a garbage truck picking up trash as usual. It looked like the entire town was just going on with business as usual. Nothing much special happening. The main event that day, they were setting up for an Indian art sale or something.

The thing of taking the day off from collecting trash was probably just around the local area. I have no idea what the reason was. Ordinarily, our trash and recycle containers are put out Thursday evenings to be picked up on Friday mornings. But my next door neighbor said the trucks will be a day behind this week. They usually have Saturdays and Sundays off. But because of the eclipse, the drivers and employees got Monday off as well, giving them a 3-day weekend. To make up for it, they'll be around on Saturday and just taking Sunday off, then back to the regular schedule. There could've been any number of reasons, including precaution if traffic proved to be unusually heavy or kids running around in the streets when the sunlight would quickly go out, or it could've been just to give their employees the extra day off to relax and enjoy the eclipse. From what you're saying, other areas around the state were still out collecting garbage as usual. Maybe it was just here in the Mid-Willamette Valley. I think Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, and probably Sweet Home, Brownsville, and Philomath, and other small communities, are all served by the same company.

I talked with the auto insurance agent last week about the eclipse, and they said they were going to be closed for the day as well. I don't know about other agencies or shops though. I'm pretty sure most stores, etc., were open as usual. People working at the local Subway said they had to work, but they could see the change in sunlight through the windows. Maybe they briefly stepped outside for a quick peek at the eclipse as it happened.

What time was it when you passed through Warm Springs?

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by NightBazaar

The thing of taking the day off from collecting trash was probably just around the local area. I have no idea what the reason was. Ordinarily, our trash and recycle containers are put out Thursday evenings to be picked up on Friday mornings. But my next door neighbor said the trucks will be a day behind this week. They usually have Saturdays and Sundays off. But because of the eclipse, the drivers and employees got Monday off as well, giving them a 3-day weekend. To make up for it, they'll be around on Saturday and just taking Sunday off, then back to the regular schedule. There could've been any number of reasons, including precaution if traffic proved to be unusually heavy or kids running around in the streets when the sunlight would quickly go out, or it could've been just to give their employees the extra day off to relax and enjoy the eclipse. From what you're saying, other areas around the state were still out collecting garbage as usual. Maybe it was just here in the Mid-Willamette Valley. I think Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, and probably Sweet Home, Brownsville, and Philomath, and other small communities, are all served by the same company.

I talked with the auto insurance agent last week about the eclipse, and they said they were going to be closed for the day as well. I don't know about other agencies or shops though. I'm pretty sure most stores, etc., were open as usual. People working at the local Subway said they had to work, but they could see the change in sunlight through the windows. Maybe they briefly stepped outside for a quick peek at the eclipse as it happened.

What time was it when you passed through Warm Springs?

I got there at 11PM and then slept in my car. There was a lot of traffic on the highway with traffic control guy's directing it until about midnight. Then everything quieted down and I went to sleep and slept until about 3AM, when I got woken up by cops shining their spotlights in my car. Other then the cops there was really nothing moving at that time. Then about 5:30AM I drove up the highway to the view point. Which was already packed with people setting up to watch the eclipse. The traffic on the highway was not very heavy at that time. Everything was moving good. I drove back into town and that's when I saw the garbage truck making collections. Other than the garbage truck and a few other tourists like me driving around, and a lot of stray dogs, the streets were empty. After I figured out that all the forest roads out of town were blocked, I drove up to the view point on Pelton Dam Road about 7AM, and that is where I stayed to watch the eclipse.

[GregW]

I want to thank the fine people of Northeast Oregon. We watched from the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City. The corona, complete with red prominences, was magnificent in my 12 x image stabilized binoculars.


We enjoyed driving around the mountains and visiting the Oxbow Dam and the Snake River Canyon Overlook. We also stayed near Wallowa Lake and had a good time in Joseph and Enterprise. Great fun and many reasons for visiting the area again.