The Great American Eclipse of 2017 took place on this date five years ago. Damsel and I (and some friends) watched the spectacle from Casper, Wyoming. We were in an RV park, along with several hundreds of other campers and spectators. Casper, a town of less than 60,000 people had grown to an estimated population of over a quarter million, not counting those outside of town limits watching the eclipse from campsites on the Platte River and elsewhere. Our campground definitely had a party atmosphere before, during and after totality.
Image above: Damsel’s capture of mid-totality – click to enlarge.
At our location, totality lasted about 2 minutes and 26 seconds. The crowd noise in the campground dropped to murmurs during totality with a collective “oooooh” sounding as the “diamond ring” appeared at the end of totality. The whole effect was phenomenal – a memory that should last until we’re gone.
There will be another total solar event during the Great American Eclipse of 2024. We sort of have a plan to be in Kerrville Texas vicinity at that time, The Good Lord willing. There will also be an annular eclipse in October next year; we have not made plans for that one yet, but we may do so after our “shakedown” cruise in the motorhome coming up soon. We’re thinking of going to the “Four Corners” area for that eclipse if we go. If we do go, maybe we’ll organize a meetup with family and friends for that event.
I had hoped we’d be moved here by then, but it didn’t happen. It got fairly dark in Long Beach, and when the maximum peaked, it was strange to see it get dark like that during the day.
It started getting noticeably dark in Casper when the shadow was about 50% coverage. The impending darkness only added to the excitement and anticipation of totality. My friend Tom (N6UL) took a bunch of photos and videos of the event which he shared later. And now, five years later, I can’t seem to find any of those.