Eclipse Report - One Little Cloud

We did it. Sort of. We (about fifty stragglers) had our eclipse moments there in an empty field at our church park. We were prepared. We had the perfect location for a non total event. We had our glasses. We had Moon Pies and Sun Drop and Star Bursts. And we had a telescope. And one pesky cloud.

We started peering at the sky  an hour before the peak, using our once in a life-time, never need them again solar glasses, or our improvised shoe box and cereal box viewers that ended up in the trash after the event ended. My attempts at selfies to capture the image of the banana/fingernail moon shape failed. Even those I took directly toward the sun, making a stab out of the blue because I couldn't see through the glasses lens to find where to press on my cell phone, those pictures failed. I'm talking epic Pinterest Fails category failed. My daughter however was more successful:

We visited with each other, stood amazed together, pestered the little ones to only glance at the sun, yes, even through the solar glasses. Then the time arrived, and so did one little cloud, perfectly timed to arrive at exactly 2:39 pm. All that waiting and fuss and anticipation and what happened? An errant cloud drifted across our viewing spot, as if in defiance of all our plans. By the time it drifted away, the banana shape faced the opposite direction and we had missed the main event.

Bummer.

But not all was lost. For starters I learned the true power of the sun when 96.7 percent of it is blocked, the remaining three point three percent still delivers sufficient light. I learned that crickets and katydids do react to eclipses and start their nighttime chirping when the sun begins to fade. Most of all I learned about community and corporate fascination with the wonders of the world and sharing the mysteries of the universe with others.

I looked around the crowd, this mix of interested young people who managed to take a break from their routine, joining with grannies like me who were dragging our grands to see the event while their parents were doing the responsible thing and watching on company time from their places of employment. I could have stayed home and watched on the television set. If it were me alone, that would have been my decision.

But no.

I wanted my grands to have a memory burned into the recesses of their brains. A good memory of that day in 2017 when we all went out to the park and wandered around the wilderness in dark glasses, carrying shadow boxes in one hand and moon pies in the other.

One of my grands

After all, that's what passing things along to the next generation is all about.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Decision - There's No Place Like Home

After considering all the wonderful options for places to watch the eclipse here in western North Carolina, I've come to my final decision. I'm staying home. Well, almost home, two miles away from home, where at 2:39, the moon/sun show peaks at 96.7% covered.

Actually I've organized an event at a park owned and maintained by Littlejohn United Methodist Church, where I a member. A former missionary from our church to China donated her ancestral land to the state of North Carolina for a forest educational park, but she carved out sixteen acres on the back side which she donated to us. We named it in her honor, the Lelia Tuttle Memorial Park. It's where our annual Christmas Trail is held. It's where we have picnics and weddings and family reunions and now eclipse watching. It's where we reconstructed a chapel out of logs from our 1825 structure and named it in honor of the family who donated the logs, Courtney Chapel.

No more perfect place to view an eclipse

Tomorrow we'll gather together, us and whoever wants to stop in from 1:30 on. There will be moon pies. There will be Sundrops and Sunkist sodas. There will be starburst candies, and any other food people can think of that is sky related. There will be a few ISO approved solar viewing glasses (after the dozen I purchased earlier turned out not to be safe to use), so there will be shadow boxes crafted from samples we've found online. Spoiler alert for the surprise, there will be a telescope with an approved solar lens.

Please join us as we stand amazed.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Option - Lenoir, Hickory and Morganton, NC

I've searched and studied and researched locations in North Carolina as possible "go-to" eclipse day adventures. From what I understand, so has the rest of the world, which bring me closer to the conclusion that local is best. It works for home grown tomatoes, why not eclipse watching?

My searching today is through Macaroni Kids, a website that does the searching for me to find entertaining events for children in the Hickory/Western Piedmont district of North Carolina. Festivals. Plays. Art activities. Free movies. Storytelling. Eclipses. Those kinds of things.

So I looked. And I found.

There's an eclipse event at the Caldwell County public library here in Lenoir, my home town for well over forty years. It starts at two o'clock, timed to hit the middle around the 2:39 peak when the moon will obscure (the official term) the sun 96.7%. Macaroni Kids says the event is free. Just show up. The library itself is surrounded by trees, a haven behind the busy restaurant row of highway #321.

Caldwell County Library, Lenoir branch

Departing from the library is a hiking trail into all kinds of wide open spots just built for moon/sun gazing, the City of Lenoir Greenway.

The Greenway from the top of the hill at the library

The Greenway from the bottoms
wide open to watch the eclipse

I love libraries! They take a moment in time and help us to connect. In Catawba County south of us, there are several library branch eclipse parties, the largest in downtown Hickory at the Patrick Beaver Memorial Library where there's an event in conjunction with the Catawba Science Center, starting at one and going until three.

Up river from Hickory, the town of Morganton will host an event at the Catawba Meadows Park. During the long process of the moon creeping over the sun, the waiting will be the issue for my grands. I can hear them now, "When is it going to happen?" At least at Catawba Meadows there's the Beanstalk Zip Line where they can zip through the treetops, or watch others zip through the treetops. Further down the walking trail we could visit the Native American Village Interpretive Center where, on the banks of the Catawba River, we can experience the darkening of the sun through a sixteenth century Catawba tribe member's point of view. Wow, oh wow. This might be the spot. It's only ten minutes from my house.

Time is ticking down. A decision must be made. Soon.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Option - Orchard Hills, NC

Come every Wednesday, my husband joins up with a group of his friends at their unofficial organization called Pete's Duffers. Their communal love of the sport of golf draws them out regardless of weather conditions, with the rare exceptions of torrential downpours or ice crystals on the greens. No doubt this group would love to be on the course during the eclipse, if only it were on a Wednesday.

I dabble at golf myself. Is that the correct terminology for this? Dabble? We belong to a course nearby aptly called Orchard Hills. There are few apple trees left now, but enough to remind the cart rider of its origins.

That's mine in pink heading down the fairway on the eleventh hole,
my favorite, by the way. Downhill 

Working our way to the green

The course is wide open, with enough trees surrounding the individual fairways for the birds to come roosting back home. Wonder what the over-the-top population of squirrels will do during the eclipse. They've witnessed all kinds of human emotions from their scurrying around between shots, so what's a little eclipse to them!

But it's a big deal to me. While I think a golf course would be a wonder to play during the event, dimming sunlight and all, I'm not sure in my situation. After all, I have the two grands with me and their introduction to the great game of golf wasn't all that spectacular. But the grandpa tried.

Grandpa teaching the two

The percentage of the eclipse there will be 97.7, not bad at all. But being around for two hours waiting for the sun to slowly fade away whilst searching for stray balls in the rough is not the ideal choice for these two youngsters.

For other duffers, I say go for it, even if you have to use an LED night flyer golf ball that glows in the dark. There is such a thing. Here's my husband demonstrating the see-through golf balls. A thin light is slid inside each ball, and others are placed in the cup and on the flag.

Note his collections of souvenir pencils behind
along with his three hole-in-one balls at the top

Makes me wonder if they will need to use all that on the afternoon of August 21. I'll have to ask, but as for me, I won't be there.

I'm still searching for the perfect spot for me.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Options - Mt. Mitchell, NC

In my search for the most perfect spot in North Carolina to view the eclipse, I thought I'd check out our tallest point. After all, the tallest should be the clearest, most unencumbered vista around.

Mt. Mitchell.

That would be me on the left, sitting, catching my breath from hiking up from the parking lot, thin air and all.

When I taught fourth grade, our social studies curriculum emphasized North Carolina, and Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River was one of the major topics. Dr. Mitchell's body is buried there at the peak, near this lookout point. It is now a state park, accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway mile marker #355, about thirty miles from Asheville.

Here's the view from that lookout point. Majestic, isn't it? Imagine this same view with a solar eclipse overhead. 98.1% blockage. There's plenty of parking, assuming you don't mind walking extra far in case the closer parking lots are filled to capacity. Plus only so many people can fit on the lookout platform. But, then again, well worth the trip if you don't mind close quarters. Be sure to pack a sweater. When the sun goes dark, the temperature will drop significantly up there (in my un-expert opinion).

Further in our fourth grade studies we discussed the grand argument between geologists as to if Mt. Mitchell was really the tallest, or was Clingman's Dome, a mountain straddling western North Carolina and Tennessee. Mitchell won, but the dome claims the distinction of being the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

I borrowed this picture of the viewing platform from their website.
I have walked (more like puffed) all the way to the top.

With the same percentage blocked as Mt. Mitchell, it would be an equally amazing experience come August 21. However, from what I've heard on the news, the traffic will be contained so as to keep the national park safe from the anticipated heavy load. Do I really want to go there? Yes, either place. Am I going to? I don't think so.

I'll keep searching.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Solar Eclipse Option - Blowing Rock, NC

Every town needs a legend, especially in times when the moon comes creeping across the sun, and the ancient stories come alive.

Nature dealt Blowing Rock a legend in the making. Location, location, location. Chickasaw chief's daughter falls in love with a Cherokee brave. Courtship follows. Distraught over having to leave her, he jumps from the rock to the canyon below. Grief stricken, she prays that he be restored. She returns over and over to the rock, where one day, her prayers are answered. The wind blows him back into her arms. Now a wind blows eternally, perhaps even more so when the sun dies a slow death. 

Okay, enough of that. Blowing Rock is a mere thirty minute drive from my house, and has the making not only of a legend, but of unbelievable eclipse viewing possibilities.

The blowing rock

The view from the rock

So what if the blockage percentage is a paltry 96.5. With views like this, how could anyone complain. Besides there's Canyons, a restaurant on the next curve beyond the rock that has a variety of meal selections.

Not only that, it has an outdoor seating area overlooking the Linville Gorge, and toward another direction, the Johns River Gorge, which is near my home. 

My Florida friend, Sara capturing the view.

This is certainly a contender for spending my afternoon gazing at the sky. With my special eclipse glasses protecting me, craning my neck won't be such an issue. I'll almost be parallel with the sun!

But I'll keep on searching.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Options - Price Park, NC

I don't know how much my grown children remember about growing up Griffith, but I do hope they hold a special place in their memory bank for our days at Price Park, a campground along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Being only a thirty minute drive from our home, it was the scene of many a Sunday afternoon picnic. It was the launch site for our Boone Fork hike where we learned that half way there meant we couldn't turn around. It was our pop-up camper destination with sitting by the campfire and roasting marshmallows, and smelling bacon cooking in the newness of the morning.

Price Lake
Instead of fall leaves reflecting,
there shall be a mirroring of the moon and the sun playing in the sky

My grands need to experience Price Park, so what better time than during an eclipse. So what if it's only 96.5% blockage. That's still significant. It's wide open viewing over the lake. There's a short hike that my nine year old could easily handle to hear the birds roosting in the dusk brought on by the eclipse.

A favorite spot for artists.
Imagine the picture that would come from an eclipse over Price Lake!

Or the day darkness blanketing a split rail fence

August 21 is getting closer, yet I am no closer to a decision as to where to take my grandchildren. It needs to be memorable. Price Park is a part of their father's memory. If we go there, they shall claim it, too.

Still searching. 

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Option - Bryson City, NC

Ding, ding, ding!!

100% solar blockage.

Now we're talking business, at least the town of Bryson City, North Carolina is talking business. The motels and hotels and inns in a hundred mile radius have been booked for months, and the town is ready. Swain County is rolling out the black and yellow carpet, well, the black and yellow t-shirts to be more exact. They are planning a four day, not-to-miss, long weekend with music and fair and festival and planetarium all rolled into one giant event culminating in the communal watching of the solar eclipse.

I borrowed this picture from the Bryson City website 
showing the location of the eclipse day viewing party.Looks like what I've been searching for, open views, trees nearby.

There's a museum there in the town that I have somewhat of a connection to, The Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians.

I worked with one of the founders of the museum, Alen Baker, to publish his book about the how and the why of the museum. The museum is chocked full of fishing gear and life stories of fly fishermen who used them. Plenty of flies there, too. It would be a great place to stop and browse while the sun gets into position.

The Making of The Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians.

As another side excursion option, there's the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, seats still available according to the website. Leaves from Bryson City. I've been on that railroad, up the Nantahala Gorge, watching the rafters and the tubers floating down the river. So peaceful. So calm. I can't imagine watching an eclipse from the train cars, though. Too much overhead obstruction.

Floating down the river is something else to do while waiting for the sun to hide, rafting the Nantahala to give the train passengers a sight. Or there's the Ocoee River rafting.

Imagine being on whitewater during a 100% blackout. Not sure about that choice, for me anyway. Make your reservations early, though, if it's not too late already. This picture I took last summer of a raft traffic jam on the Ocoee River on US Highway #64, not all that close to Bryson City, but still in the ding, ding, ding, 100% western North Carolina range.  

The Bryson City event is the real deal. Should I attempt it? Or not? It's at least a two and a half hour drive from my home to there, and with lodging filled, it's too late to plan an overnight. 

I think I'll keep searching for now, but if you are looking for a true eclipse experience, maybe this is the place for you.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Options - Wilson Creek, NC

Will the fish in the streams be affected by the eclipse? Something to think about now that I've written a book about fly fishermen and how they study the atmosphere and the weather conditions before they set out on a fishing adventure. I've been reading about the birds coming home to roost during a total eclipse, so to me the next natural phenomena to look at would be the animals of the earth and the fish of the sea.

Wilson Creek, North Carolina

What will the deer do? The bears? The dogs in my neighborhood? The trout in the streams? The bugs and the flies they seek, will they be affected as well?

This picture of Wilson Creek is on the back cover of my book, Fly Fishermen of Caldwell County where co-author Ron Beane and I tell the life stories of twenty-eight men from our county. Nowhere in there is an eclipse mentioned, but there are many mentions of barometric pressure and best time of day and air temperature.

A trout in the stream near the Bill Crump place
Photo by Gene Swanson

Another photo by Gene Swanson

Wilson Creek has been designated a Wild and Scenic River. The process of applying for and campaigning for and succeeding is documented in Ron's chapter of the book.

With all the wilderness involved, I'm not sure if this is the time to venture here. Any other day, yes. Moon invading the sun's space overhead, this I want to see unobstructed.

I'll keep searching.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Option - Little Switzerland, NC

It's got a lovely name, Little Switzerland does. Words bring images, and with those two words coupled together, oh the images conjured up in my head. Mountains. Alpine flowers. Clean air. Beauty. Yodeling. Okay, so that didn't happen, but the others did when I went there on a Thelma and Louise weekend getaway with my best friend from high school this summer. The inn is directly off the Blue Ridge Parkway, can't miss it, exit 334.

See that dot behind us? That's the full moon rising over the Appalachian mountains. Here it is again, another shot, this one from the firepit behind the Little Switzerland Inn.

I can only imagine sitting there in the Adirondack chairs, sipping some North Carolina crafted wine, watching the moon blot out the sun. Pure delight. 

According to the eclipse map locator, the view will be a 97.9% blockage in this section of the parkway. Maybe this isn't the best kept secret, though. It might get a little crowded with the eclipse seekers.

Up the road from the inn is a restaurant that has a deck with an incomparable mountain view and an appropriate name to match, Mountain View Restaurant. 

That would be the tubby version of me standing on the deck, taken by another Thelma and Louise friend of mine last fall. Here's my mountain view.

Looks like a perfect spot for an eclipse view to match the mountain view. But it's small, so I imagine it would fill to capacity soon. I'll save eating lunch there for another Thelma and Louise trip.

A little more wide open for parking and viewing is the Apple Orchard at Altapass on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a few miles north of the Mountain View Restaurant. 

That's me in the parking lot. If you catch it at the right time, you'll be blessed with mountain music (and maybe, just maybe, a little of that Swiss Alpine yodeling that has filtered into country music) and clogging and plenty of ice cream and all things apple. But oops. I just checked. Closed on Mondays! So forget this for eclipse watching, but put it on your bucket list for fall apples.

Just what do I consider the best possible conditions for viewing this earth/moon/sun exhibit? Here's my list: Not too far to drive with two antsy granddaughters. Not too crowded. Easy access to bathrooms, a must with those aforementioned granddaughters. Unobstructed view of the sky, but enough trees nearby for the birds to come to roost when darkness falls.

I'm still searching.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Eclipse Options - Spring Creek, North Carolina

Last week I blogged about my quest for the perfect spot for me to take my grandchildren to experience the upcoming solar eclipse. I'm still searching because option number one, Max Patch, has too many issues. Namely crowds. It really would be my first choice, and I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there contemplating the same option.

The next day on facebook I ran across option two, which is also a part of option one. Spring Creek.

An early spring picture of Spring Creek

This is the major artery in western Madison County, North Carolina where streams empty their silt and sand and water, including the raindrops that fall on Max Patch. I took this picture at a crossroads called Trust. Luck is the next crossroads on the road, by the way. Trust me, watching the eclipse from here is indeed an option. 

Trust me, there is a connection in all this rambling, so hang in there with me. 

Further downstream is the school I wrote about in my book, Back in the Time. 

The school opened in 1929 and with the consolidation of smaller schools in the seventies when the high school students were moved, it gradually shrank in population and need until it closed in the late eighties. It's been resurrected by a group of dedicated former students and teachers who joined to form the Spring Creek Community Center. It is now used for various community events. It houses a library. It houses Dave's 209 restaurant, a favorite stop for the many motorcyclists venturing along the North Carolina designated scenic highway nicknamed "The Rattler."

This group is currently working toward a new heating and air conditioning system for the center. And here it is, the connection to the eclipse!!! They are going to have an eclipse event right there. At the school. Wouldn't those teachers from all those years be thrilled.

Actually it's a fund raiser called the Solar Eclipse Supply Center. The Community Center will offer for sale picnic lunches and viewing glasses. They are inviting those who plan to make the pilgrimage up the mountain to Max Patch to stop by and support their cause.

Or just stop right there. The viewing will be perfect. Wide open.

The flats of Spring Creek
with plenty of viewing opportunities

Easy to get to. Just follow North Carolina Highway #209, exit twenty-four from I-40, going toward Hot Springs. This location can handle a crowd. There's plenty of parking spaces, and bathrooms, another drawback from going on up to Max Patch.

Bring a chair.

I checked here to see the percentage the moon will block the sun at the school. 99.1%. About as close to full as you can get.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen