Eclipsing Wyoming

Yep, we got to experience Totality. Two  minutes and 25 seconds’ worth.

We made reservations two years ago at the Baldwin Creek B&B in Lander, Wyoming, which turned out to be a great location.

View from our Baldwin Creek B&B cabin

The cabins came complete with Guard Dogs and Friendly Natives.

We visited Sinks Canyon (the Lander tourist hot spot) on Saturday. Lovely (but hot) hike up to the Popo Agee Falls.

The Popo Agee River entirely disappears in a sinkhole, then reappears half a mile downstream at The Rise. Trout hang out in the Rise pool, scarfing down whatever washes up with the river’s travels, supplemented by an abundance of human-provided fish food. Biggest, fattest rainbow and brown trout I have ever seen.

Between the Sink and the Rise are a host of fissures and hillside holes. Some people (the Brave Among Us) got the experience of a lifetime spelunking in a cave that overflows with river water during spring runoff. Others (the Craven Cowardly and Claustrophobic Among Us) failed to see the attractions in yoga-ing our way through crevices, rappelling slick wall faces and baby-crawling through tunnels – with only a headlamp to keep away The Dark.

Matt squirmed through squeaky spaces and still managed to retain enough presence of mind to photograph the cave’s drippy insides.

On Sunday, we enjoyed the sunlight while taking in the Lander sights.

While Lander was within the magic eclipse zone, we got to experience an extra minute of Totality by driving 33 miles north to Pallisade, population 230.

We got there early and found a shady spot in Pavillion’s central park – along with several hundred other eclipse worshipers.

And then the moon arrived…

We found it eerie, watching the light change as the temperature dropped from mid-day scorching to grab your long-sleeves.

Our location never got to total blackness, but we did get to see  planets and bright stars popping up.

NASA has a great visualization of the eclipse here.

Looking ahead, we can get  the lowest period to Totality – 6 minutes and 23 seconds –  in my favorite part of the world: Egypt.

Whoo-hoo!

2 thoughts on “Eclipsing Wyoming”

  1. In the total eclipse which we observed in the 1980’s from Worthing, England where we live,
    there was a drop in temperature as you noticed, but for me the strangest thing was the
    quality of the light. It wasn’t fully dark as I expected but a peculiar silvery light, dimmer but
    more silver than moonlight. The moon was completely dark, the sun was completely
    obscured, I couldn’t see any other heavenly bodies, so where did this light come from?
    Did you notice anything similar this time?Alan

    Reply

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