2017 total solar eclipse

I'm a bit on the pessimistic side as well. I live right under the path in Southeast idaho, and I prefer the slow, easy going, small population centers, so the idea of all those people coming in doesn't sound very appealing. I'm tempted to head north up to glacier. I know it's only a couple minutes eclipse, but people will probably want to visit all the parks, etc. While they are in the area. Be curious how long the average visit will be. Couple days?;week?

Nielsonru Nielson wrote:I'm a bit on the pessimistic side as well. I live right under the path in Southeast idaho, and I prefer the slow, easy going, small population centers, so the idea of all those people coming in doesn't sound very appealing. I'm tempted to head north up to glacier. I know it's only a couple minutes eclipse, but people will probably want to visit all the parks, etc. While they are in the area. Be curious how long the average visit will be. Couple days?;week?

My sympathies. You guys and Weiser, of all places, seem to have gotten "picked". Just hunker down. Throw a tent on the lawn and fund a nice trip somewhere!

When I googled the Boise bit above, I googled the day before, but I also googled the next weekend (looking for the "normal" rate). That, here at least, looked back to normal.

My guess is just a couple days for the vast majority who actually booked a room.

My vote for a great place to be? The lucky dogs who booked exactly the right trip to float the Salmon river.

The real hordes, sorry guys, nothing personal, will be those within temptation of a drive up just for the morning scenario. For you? Salt Lake. Over here? We've got half a million between Ontario (they'll stay put at least) and Mountain Home, so yeah, people like me, but also those who couldn't get stuffed in to Idaho Falls, etc. and are filling up all available space in Boise. Cascades? How many in the I-5 corridor? Gooood luck!

At least it's a Monday. Can't all get off work. Well, I already did. Lol! I do expect it to be very short duration, but astonishingly ridiculous impact.

I did run across a cool event here though. International astronomical conference here then, professional astronomers presenting papers on exoplanets. Betcha somebody in that brainy group is a climber! Now that would be fun, belaying an astrophysicist!

Best, Helen

Best, H.

I heard Madras/Central Oregon is a bit more popular than other places in the path of the eclipse because we are virtually guaranteed to have sunny, clear skies during August. The eclipse is also supposed to pass over the OR coast, but it's not quite as popular of a viewing spot because there is a decent chance it might be cloudy. So other places with different weather patterns might not be as crowded/sold out as Central Oregon.

Yeah, I'm pushing my Teton trip back to early September now. I'm an amateur astronomy nut, but I also loathe crowds, so the idea of climbing the Grand in a hoard is not my idea of fun.

Plus, the last couple years up there have been a bit smoky from fires, so that would be a total bummer for folks who schlep all the way up there. I wonder if the Winds are going to be crowded too? Watch it from the summit of Wolf's Head? Or maybe Devils Tower? I mean, it's not directly in the path, but you'll still get a good show.

Edited to add: Good god, the total eclipse times for the Grand are basically from 4pm until 5pm. I sure as shit hope there aren't thunderstorms that day or this will be a recipe for another disaster up there.

Tony T. wrote: Edited to add: Good god, the total eclipse times for the Grand are basically from 4pm until 5pm. I sure as shit hope there aren't thunderstorms that day or this will be a recipe for another disaster up there.

Not sure where you got your time, but it will max out at around 11:36 am.

Were you planning on climbing the Grand that Monday? I imagine a few days before or after would be less crowded.

Jason Todd wrote: Not sure where you got your time, but it will max out at around 11:36 am.

Oh, the site I was looking at was GMT/UT Eclipse Map ! D'oh! Well that's good then! Hopefully it's nice and clear for the masses.

Nielsonru Nielson wrote:Were you planning on climbing the Grand that Monday? I imagine a few days before or after would be less crowded.

Pretty much. There always seems to be a very nice weather window in late August, and my partner and I got turned around a couple years back at the belly crawl in record winds (90mph recorded) and vowed to return that same time period to finish it up. I might still shoot for later that week by departing Denver Wednesday afternoon and climbing it Friday or Saturday.

Cheers!

Just another bump, now that we are getting into the season.

When I checked last week, Boise was close to 90% booked. There was also a big flap recently when a bunch of hotels in Portland dumped reservations and jacked up their prices for the eclipse.

The long range outlook for precipitation and temperature is out for Idaho, and our maps include the Tetons. It looks like, for those parts of the west that had the huge record snows, they are "predicting" a likely probability of temps and precipitation being above, below, or at average for all locations. Couldn't just type "your guess is as good as ours". They are, however, reasonably optimistic that we will have an acceptable irrigation season. Lol!! The water managers have been holding the Boise river at as high a flood stage as possible without houses going downstream for a month and a half now, trying to make room for the serious stuff, when it comes.

Boise had snow this past Friday, all the way down to our 2500ish feet. Our ski area is starting to worry about their plans for summer activities, and, this amazes me, are making plans for snow removal!!!

Best of luck to all of us, Helen

Lander is actually in the path of totality, just not for quite as long as places a little to the east.  We are going to get about 2-3 minutes of total dark.  Wild Iris and the other cliffs that you would want to climb at in August are going to be just to the west of the path, so camping up there you would miss the main event.  The city is planning about 10,000 people for the eclipse.

I'm planning a three-week trip to the Tetons, but if I want crowds I can always try to climb High Exposure on a nice weekend day in the Fall.  So I'm outta there on August 15; don't even want to get near the incoming tsunami of eclipse-peepers.

Just an update. 

Idaho communities are starting to gear up for this, and are even more pessimistic than a month or so ago.

They are now suggesting people have 72 hour kits with them if they are planning on trying to travel then, and those of us who live here are cringing just thinking about buying gas....

Wa. Hoo. 

OLH

Old lady H wrote:

Just an update. 

Idaho communities are starting to gear up for this, and are even more pessimistic than a month or so ago.

They are now suggesting people have 72 hour kits with them if they are planning on trying to travel then, and those of us who live here are cringing just thinking about buying gas....

Wa. Hoo. 

OLH

On the other hand, I hear that people are renting out their houses/apartments for like $1,000 a night in some areas. So if you have a place and can deal with strangers being there for a couple of days, and want to make a couple grand, and maybe don't mind camping yourself...

Wow.  Sounds like some needless hysteria.  Are you expecting power outages, road closures and flooding?  Its not a hurricane.  Its going to get a bit dark during the day for a while, then light again.  Yeah, I get it. Y'all are expecting a much larger than normal tourist influx that will tax local supplies.  But, you had about 100 years to plan for it.  Fill up your fridge and gas tank, ride your bike, and take a day off while the local economies post record profits.  

And hope its not cloudy that day.  

Kinda reminds me of Y2K, as far as hype.   But yeah, it will be way cool I bet.   Unfortunately I am going away for the summer.  Otherwise, western North Carolina looks to be ideal.  

Emergency services types, on the 72 hour kit thing, and that was aimed at people who are traveling, not locals.

Half a million plus is a bit more than the 30,000 some festival might bring in. We have very few roads that go into the areas that they are expecting crowds in, and those are small two lane roads with not much that they intersect with. Back doors or alternate routes would be FS logging roads, if anything at all.

Just look at a road map, and you might get a clue why Idaho officialdom is worried. The eclipse path is north of the one interstate in southern Idaho. Public lands start about a fifteen minute bike ride from downtown Boise, and extend to Canada. You could hike/bike to Canada and only cross a single handful of paved roads for almost all of it. It's easier and faster to drive to any of the adjacent states than to get from southern to northern Idaho.

I'm just passing along information. MP will make of it what it will, as always!

Have fun!

Best, OLH

OK, we found a peak with a 20 mile approach....

Surely that will be enough to get us away from the crowds.... right....?

Khoi wrote:

OK, we found a peak with a 20 mile approach....

Surely that will be enough to get us away from the crowds.... right....?

:-D

Actually, hiking in, biking in, even dirt bike in FS roads would probably be the most fun anyway.

I would still think of the eclipse and any super special trip (like the Tetons) as two separate things, and time them appropriately as per rgolds example.

I don't know yet if I will even shoot for being in totality, or be happy with partial and staying home. It will depend a lot on if the fire season has cranked up yet.

Best, H.

@Kyle, I pulled my snarky reply to your last comment, and, apparently you deleted yours also.Thank you, sir. 

Hey all, now that Oregon has made plans to mobilize the Guard, and Idaho's officialdom has announced they are preparing for half a million (whole stinkin state only has about 3 mill, and I think they cheat and include cows in some counties, if they're registered republican), well, it's a big deal.

But a cool, once in a lifetime big deal! Or ordeal.

Stoke up, to those of you with plans. I have zero idea what I'll end up doing myself, but maybe post up later with your epics, awesome or not. It would be truly fun to hear how it went down in your part of the country, or how your trips panned out.

Hope to hear from y'all in a few weeks!

EDIT to add: holy crap! Boise area hotel rooms, what little there is, are now going for $800-900 for 8/20, and more ($1777)! Boise isn't even in totality. Lol!

Second edit: my bad. Idaho has less than two million. We are outnumbered by cows, however. Southern half of the state will be doubling it's population!

Best, Helen

I've been working on a trip to The Winds for this; Titcomb Basin specifically.  One of my partners just backed out though.

Healyje wrote: The longest totally will be down in the hollers at Giant City SP in Southern Illinois - my old climbing haunt while in college. Suspect the lodge and cabins are already way sold out.

It sounds like the Carbondale IL area is going to be extremely crowded.  SIU has gone as far as having an event at the Football stadium to view, NASA will be on hand and everything.  I heard cabins/hotels started booking up a year ago.  That said, I'm sure Giant City is a lost cause, but for those looking to climb there are certainly other areas in close proximity that will be less crowded.