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its been a hectic few days. ive got some down time at PDX to finally get a bit of a report done. my initial spot was Fields Peak, OR, however after getting to the top and realising that even 30 people simply wouldnt fit at the top, i had to abandon it and go to one of my many backup spots. At the trailhead carpark, many people recommended i go to Aldrich Fire Tower, 15 miles west. i had 15kg plus of gear to lug up there, they said it was a much easier ascent than Fields Peak. I debated with myself whether to go or not. In the end i chose to. what an epic decision that turned out to be.
i arrived Sunday morning at Fields Peak, by the time i got to Aldrich it was about 5pm. I went up there, took me 45 minutes with a light payload. I was presented with the most stunning view, and more importantly plenty of space. The fire tower was manned by an elderley couple, the nicest people. They let me stash gear up there so i didnt have to lug it up in the morning (still ended up taking about 13kg up there).
traffic was unexpectedly absent for every authority around. the forest people had a small camp at the bottom expecting to be busy organising hordes of people. as it happens this happened at pretty much every other location in the John Day valley after talking to them, but we got lucky. i slept in the car, and got up at 3am, organised my stuff and started my ascent at 4am. everything was dead quiet, the transparency was incredible at 7000 ft elevation. it took me 2 hours 15 mins to get up there with frequent rest stops. had to be careful not to sweat too much, it was pretty cold.
i took my time watching the sunrise and staking out my spot and began setting up. i was all by myself for at least 3 hours. the couple in the fire tower even made me a cup of coffee and let me use their little dunny (a critical factor often overlooked with these things lol). then the smoke came. there was (and still is) a major fire burning about 200 miles west, and all the smoke was forecast to be pushed completely west, but the winds turned out to be the opposite and injected smoke at high altitude right over me. this was about 2 hours before partial. it was thick. my soul was getting destroyed. it was too late to move, so had to stay. at least i could see the sun so i would see something, but photographs being great i thought were out of the question
people started arriving slowly. we ended up with about 40 of the nicest people ive met, it was a pleasure enjoying it all with all of them. we were all very spread out, everyone had their own space, it was fantastic. i was the only one up there with pro grade gear. every single person came and looked at the sun through the camera at 600mm FL. most had never seen sunspots before and were amazed. every single person had so much respect for me bringing up all that gear and letting them look through it. i was even interviewed by a fella who turned out to be a freelance journalist. pretty much everyone wondered why an aussie would choose that spot! the fire tower had a guest log, can confirm im the first aussie to be there (record went back to 1998).
15 minutes before partial began, the smoke cleared to a very light haze. transparency was average, but way good enough for photos. what an emotional roller coaster. i started getting mega excited, but had to keep a lid on it so i didnt mess up my exposures! every person wanted my contact details, i just gave them my facebook ad, explaining i would be uploading pics as a public post, but i might wait till i get back to AU before uploading a full set. i made many new friends.
i still have no words for totality. ill leave them for another time. we are two days later and i still have no words. i couldnt have been more happy with my pictures, given the atmospheric circumstances. there were so many things i observed in 2 minutes, i had to spend a few hours when i got back to Bend that evening just to digest it all and replay it. every detail i read about, chromosphere, all the corona features, Baileys Beads, Diamond ring, i saw every bit of it and every bit was absolutely amazingly awesome in person.
the most incredible thing i have ever seen. and details which i never read about. eg Corona is pure white to the eye, the purest white, and the moon there is zero discernible earthshine, just the blackest hole you have ever seen. stunningly black. i thought about this, you actually very rarely see something truly black. that thing was black. the contrast was stunning and striking. the corona is overall far far brighter than the full moon. i heard it described as such, but that is completely wrong. lucky i bracketed and tested my exposure sequences. only one ISO adjustment was needed. people describe the surroundings as a sunrise all around at the same time. that is also completely wrong. the lighting is absolutely unique and cannot be effectively described.
i didnt say a single word (checked video recording afterwards).
the crowd reaction added to the ambience. 40 people was just amazing, not too crazy and rowdy, i heard later that in Madras, a town of 6000 people, well over 100000 people were present and someone did silly stuff like letting off a flare, and the sound was deafening.
during totality it was amazingly quiet. i think everyone was just stunned.
towards the end, Mount Hood could be seen fully lit while we were still in shadow. an amazing thing.
i saw the chromosphere emerge from the lunar disc and warned everyone diamond ring was coming. i was watching it live on the screen while i prepared for the final exposure sequence. as i triggered the last few i watched the eclipse end. no Baileys Beads at the end, must have been a large lunar crater or Mare where the sun emerged.
one lady sat on a rock just looking at the sun for the rest of the eclipse, shocked and stunned. her expression and body language was very unique, i think something only a total eclipse can do to someone.
afterwards many people left not wanting to wait for partial to end. i stayed to the end, and i had the highest magnification so i called it when C4 occured. everyone left applauded and thanked the couple in the fire tower for their hospitality. afterwards my new friends helped me carry all my stuff back down. we sat down at their little tent for a couple hours to go over what we saw, obviously i had more time at the camera so there were somethings i wanted them to describe to me.
traffic was completely recked across the state, everyone wanted to leave. i took back roads, pre-planned route, and encountered zero traffic. i had zero internet from 24 hours before C1, so i dont know in the end what traffic was like leading up to the event.
Sorry guys that got really long
i refuse to put pictures here at 200kb. that would be the biggest injustice to the pics i took. ive posted an initial 2 on my facebook wall, public post. Krishan Kara. check it out.
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