Coming up in April there will be a solar eclipse from the eastern US down to Texas....
Back in 2017 I went on a trip up to eastern Oregon to see the solar eclipse...it was an amazing trip....here is my story- and some pictures;
Eric's Eclipse Excursion Years ago I had wanted to see the total solar eclipse in La Paz, Mexico....But a friend of mine told me, basically, that you didn't have to worry about the bandits in Mexico, but it was the "Federales" that you had to watch out for...so I didn't go.
This time it was in Oregon, so I figured I was (Relatively) safe.....I actually would not have gone, but I had found that the line of totality passed just 10 miles south of Sumpter, Oregon.....
So what is special about Sumpter?....Well, I had been camping on Trinity lake, CA since 1965, and that area is famous for gold dredging....These were giant machines that would rip up the stream bed and process it to get the gold out, which was incredibly destructive, but truly amazing engineered devices. All of the Trinity county dredges had been destroyed, and any usable parts shipped off to South America to be used in dredges down there....So I figured (for years) that I would never have a chance to see one....and then I found that there was a Dredge Museum in Sumpter, Oregon! They actually had a (relatively) intact dredge! So when the eclipse turned out to pass close to Sumpter, I figured I could "Kill two birds with one stone", as the saying goes....
I needed a place to stay, and soon found out that all of the campgrounds and hotel spaces were filled and had been for almost a year! The last place I called was the "Sumpter Stockade".....A Stockade, in military lingo, is the JAIL!...So when I called I asked, "Do you lock up your residents at night?" She laughed, and said, "We can!" She stated that all of the rooms were taken.....I said "I figured" and went on to explain that I wasn't just coming up for the eclipse, but also wanted to see the gold dredge...and She immediately mentioned that her "No frills" room was available...I suspect she stated that it was downstairs, but for some reason I somehow heard it as "In the basement"....She also said it was only $20 a night, so I immediately made the reservation.
I left home on Friday morning(Aug 18) and drove to Alturas, a small town in the middle of basically nowhere on Highway 299. In Alturas, I must have talked to approx' 40 people staying the night there- ALL were headed up into Oregon to see the eclipse....So the next morning, I woke up at 4:30, jumped out of bed and headed out, hoping to beat the traffic. I traveled in the dark for over an hour, and when it started to get light, I was traveling along a geological feature called the Abert Rim....A Fault Scarp that was 30 miles long and 2500 feet high...It was on my eastern side, while Lake Abert was on my western side....The road was precariously perched on a ledge between....The lake was covered by a thin fog, while smoke from fires in Modoc county created a haze layer above the rim...with the sun coming up behind the rim, it lit the haze pinkish/orange...the cliff loomed above, black, and the lake fading into the fog....It was a very ethereal scene!
There were a lot of miles driving by ranch and farm land, and some forested canyons and mountains....As I drove along, I began to consider what my lodging in Sumpter was going to be like.....Stockade......Basement....only $20 per night....What was I getting myself into? I had been smart enough to bring some camping gear....And I could even sleep in the van. Finally, after 5 1/2 hours, I arrived in Sumpter. I drove up to the Stockade, and went inside...After telling them who I was, they showed me to my room....And I was pleasantly surprised! Nice little room, the only detriment being a small window for ventilation- with no screen.
As I had drove into town, I had seen the Gold Dredge......It was a huge square, almost building-like structure....Appprox' 100' long X 50' wide, and 4 stories high....But then it had the tailings stacker boom sticking out back, adding another 80' or so, and the bucket line supported by the derrick out front adding another 40'.....I decided to take a rest the day I arrived, but the next morning I was at the dredge for the first tour. It was very intriguing- I took quite a few pics and bought a nice little book on Gold dredging history.
The dredge uses large cast-iron buckets to dig- these buckets weigh ONE TON, each...and on the Sumpter dredge there are 75 of them! They scrape up the river bottom, and then drop it in a "Trommel", a rotating drum approx' 5' in diameter by maybe 30' length, with 3/4" holes in it....Anything larger goes back to the Stacker and is dumped out the back, while the finer gravels fall through and land on the sluices that separate the gold from the gravel/dirt....These were coated with mercury to better capture the gold. Every Wednesday they would shut down to do maintenance and collect the mercury/gold, which was then shipped off to be cooked so that the mercury would evaporate. leaving the gold in the bottom.
There was also a steam train you could ride, but I could not figure out how to ride it down to the far end and back, so I took Skye to the lake and let her chase waves.....She found this to be the better choice.....
The morning of the eclipse, I packed up and left at 7 am, arriving on highway 26 just south of the summit. There was a house I had spotted on Google maps, but it looked deserted....I drove past on the gravel along the front of the house and parked on the side median. As I exited the van, a couple came out of the house with their small dog, so I walked back and at first just apologized for driving on their property.....They were a bit stand-offish until I mentioned that I had come up not just for the eclipse, but also the Gold dredge....Then they invited me to sit on their porch while we talked- even offering me some coffee. They said they were going to observe the eclipse from the hill next to their house and that I was welcome to join them.
As I parked my van above their house, I saw a white Audi SUV parking there also....A couple got out and with them a large white labradoodle,Very active (They stated that he was 9 months old- so puppy-active)......Luckily, they went over the top of the hill and then down to the side of the hill, allowing me to bring Skye up to the top.
A few minutes later the eclipse started....I had brought glasses and could see the moon crossing in front of the sun.....Did not notice any drop in sunlight until after 3/4 of the sun was covered, at which point I felt like I had my sunglasses on (I checked!). I turned to look to the west, and noticed the trees were still lit- while the sky behind them had gone black! I pointed this out and everyone turned and started taking pictures of this...until someone looked back and yelled "There goes the sun!" and we all turned back to the sun.....It really was a bizarre sight....Black disc, surrounded by the sun's corona.....The whole area was pitch black, but the horizon looked like a sunset all the way around- 360 degrees!
When the sun reappeared, it wasn't a slow progression- No! It was like flipping a switch even though only a sliver of the sun showed at that moment- you could no longer look bare-eyed at the sun, while the area around us looked like full daylight. I started to pack up, wanting to beat the rest of the tourists on the road out of there who I figured would watch till the end(Haha!) As I headed down the trail from the hilltop, I happened to notice the leaf shadows- they were all curved in one direction- the sun's shape was a curve, rather than a circle, and so the sun shadows were taking on that shape.
I was in my car and headed south approximately 15 minutes after Totality.....Cruising along....making decent time, not too crowded yet. I figured if I could reach the town of John Day and turn fully south on 395, I would be set.....
THREE MILES outside of John Day, the traffic stopped....It took me a half hour to make it to the intersection in Day....After that, I was stuck in a row of cars that stretched as far as you could see...any time we came to a town, the traffic would come to a stop, and a traffic jam would ensue......Going up I had averaged over 65 MPH...Coming down I probably averaged 45 MPH!(I had filled up before coming up- So no gas stops)
Luckily, I had reserved a room at the Super 8 (The whole town was FULL up!), so when I arrived I was set.....There was a nice young lady behind the counter, so after dinner, etc, I went and showed her my pictures from the eclipse.....Every 2-5 minutes, someone would call or walk in, looking for a room....She was going crazy (Not from me talking to her(I think....)
The next morning I headed out at 5 am to beat the traffic. I did pretty well, too....Until just north of Arbuckle- The traffic came to a stop. Then 2 CHP cars went by on the center median, followed by a fire truck on each side, and finally an ambulance.....We started inching forward and after approximately a mile, we passed the accident; A white Audi SUV, now pulling a camping trailer, had rolled over on it's side in the center median......And then I saw...a couple....And their Labradoodle! I had felt pretty good about this trip- even with the traffic, but now I felt sad. They seemed to be OK, but I had shared(somewhat) the eclipse experience with them. I did not know their names, but realized that this was NOT the way ANYONE should end a trip like this.....
An hour and a half later, I arrived home safely........
Modified to show camera exposure vs what the actual light level was.
Trees lit by edge of sun- and moon shadow behind
Sky looked like a sunset 360*
Sun with moon in front (ECLIPSE)
Sumpter Gold Dredge
Abert rim early morning (Abert rim is longest exposed earthquake fault (30 miles long, 2500 feet high)
[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 03-07-2024).]
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