Road Trip With Eclipse: Part 1

We packed a lot into two days! 

I'd planned this trip since late last spring, when I read an article in Astronomy Magazine pointing out this one was to be somewhere I could see  from. It wasn't my first try to see an eclipse, but what turned out to be my heart demanding attention chased us out of the area (Wyoming) a couple days ahead of the big event. I made a few phone calls for this one, decided it would be unlikely to find a room really close, and moved my search further out, finally landing a room. Two queen beds, dogs OK, so if it was just two of us, OK. Maybe one of the kids wanted to come. That turned out to be Richard, and he was the glue which held us together during it all.

Friday the 13th (hmmm, I hadn't thought of it quite that way) the car was packed and we were on the road early. Of course there was a small error in communication, as we'd had to go to the grocery store to pick up an order placed a couple days earlier. Luckily it was ready at 7AM, so it wasn't a big delay. This time our packing included folding chairs and a tripod for Steve's camera. (I couldn't find my own tripod.) Rich and Steve both had tablets to try to get photos on, Steve and I both had cameras. There was also a dozen pairs of eclipse glasses. Three were needed by us. The rest could be cut up and have the protective part taped over the lenses to protect them from the sun as well, meaning we needed scissors and tape.

The eclipse wasn't until Saturday, but it was early Saturday and we weren't that close. The plan was to get to our motel early in the evening, hit the hay and trust our alarms set for 5 AM would do the job of getting us up, packed, and there in time. This left plenty of time to kill Friday. So up 17 out of Phoenix, grab 40 for a quick jog to 89, better known as the route to the Grand Canyon. 

We weren't going there. Our goal was Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments. Both Steve and I have the cards which let us into the National Park system for the rest of our lives for free. We bought them when we qualified as seniors, back while they still cost $10. BEST DEAL EVER! Sunset Crater came first. I stopped at the meadow which gave views of both the crater from the old volcano, distinguished by having a black base and orange top, and on the other end, the San Francisco Peaks.

 The beautiful clear day, once we'd finally cleared Verde Valley, made for great photo ops for all. High on the "real" mountain the aspens were a combination of yellow and orange. Sunset crater was becoming covered with small trees, different from the fairly bare slopes I recall from many years earlier. Rich walked the dog while we took some pictures, and we proceeded to the main parking area. He left to go hike one of the trails.

Along the way, one thing became increasingly apparent. The "didn't reach the volcano" forest fire from over a year ago had done a lot more damage then we had expected. Turned out there were two major fires sequentially through the area. Many of the shots I'd taken were full of huge black patches, and what appeared to be an untouched mountain from one side was devastated from the back. Each new turn showed more damage, and we had many opportunities to shoot individual trees - or what was left, mangled, blackened, broken, twisted.

The bottom photo above shows black lines running horizontally through the far slope. A long finger of fire tore through, leaving trees untouched on either side. As we continued to drive through the area, it became apparent that the fire also created opportunities for new  growth where before sunlight had been blocked by the tall dense Ponderosas.

By now it was lunchtime, which meant we headed into Flagstaff to pick up some sandwiches before heading back to the adjoining monument, Wupatki. For me, that means Wukoki, a pueblo ruins I first encountered a few decades ago. I try to return as often as possible, though what make the it so special the first time, the total silence, especially no other human around, has never been duplicated. It perches high on a rocky outcrop, now with steps providing the way up and down, including some railings.

It's not just the silence that keeps drawing me to the place, or should I say the hope of silence? It's the pallett of desert colors. First you have the desert sandstone, rust red  in every direction. On clear days add in the extra-blue sky. Top it off with all the shades of greens and blues in the plants, stretching endlessly in every direction until to the northeast you have the Painted Desert demanding your attention, while southwest the San Francisco Peaks still claim precedence over the landscape.

 

Note that the middle shot is from the top of the rock pedestal the pueblo was built on. The smoothed out path zig zags  away to the top left of the show where the parking lot hides behind rocks and bushes. For a few seconds here and there you can pretend you are alone.

By the time I was done taking my last pictures of the place, Rich and Steve decided they wanted to go straight to our motel in Tuba City. there is much to recommend the place, but tops on my list is the comfortable beds. I haven't slept so well in ages. Speaking of which.....