stevepusser

Is anyone planning this? I was just listening to a Big Picture Science podcast about the eclipse, and the road traffic is forecast to resemble a disturbed crazy ant nest for a couple days around the event, so I would expect a prudent tourist to schedule rest days on August 20-21. The beach sites might end up being socked in by fog, so a tourist might make a detour to one of the more inland state parks in the path, such as

Rates - Cascadia State Park - Oregon State Parks and Recreation

which could expect clearer weather.

All standard campsites were naturally reserved as soon as they became available, and I hear locals are renting rooms or even places to park for outrageous prices, so I'm also wondering if the hike 'n' bike sites will withstand the pressure for the campground to open them up to regular car campers as just walk-ins for many, many $. Or if car campers will try and game the system by just parking nearby and "backpacking" a hundred meters to the campground to use the site, like often happens in Southern California, leaving legitimate cyclotourists with no place to lay their weary heads.

alan s 

Here is the top 10 list of places to view. The foggy Oregon coast did not make the cut.

https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com...laces-to-view/

fietsbob

Newport ~ Lincoln City.

I'm staying put, I'm in a 90% location, .. Astoria..


Its Hot and Dry , no open fires , Natl Guard will be out on fire watch.

ArnoldPowers

I second or third the fact that the coast will probably be foggy that time of day.

jefnvk

I think if I am heading somewhere to watch the eclipse, I'd want to be in a car, where if it is crappy weather a couple hours beforehand I can relocate myself to a better location.

Tourist in MSN

I plan to be under a thunderstorm during the eclipse.

My sister got a flight that is scheduled to be in the air during the eclipse, the plane will be crossing the eclipse path. I asked her if she got a window seat? She had no idea that there would be an eclipse at the time of her flight.

B. Carfree

Maybe. However, Oregon, population approximately 4 million, is expecting about a million extra visitors for the eclipse, virtually all of them with cars. ODOT is expecting fuel shortages and massive traffic jams. You might just have to guess at what the weather will be based on information gleaned the night before if you plan on moving just prior to the event and still being able to arrive. Then there's going to be that whole problem with parking thing to solve.

I'm rooting for fuel shortages. I haven't seen a good shortage of gasoline in decades. I suspect a few hotel operators and such are also hoping for a few stranded travelers to stretch out their bonus income another day or two.

alan s 

We get a total solar eclipse every day here. It's called nighttime. Not that interesting, but maybe the moon's shadow is better.

DropBarFan

Good luck to all the eclipse tour hopefuls. Perhaps bike campers can find locals renting out reasonably-priced camping spots since bike campers won't wreck the lawn like cars/RV's. BTW a year or two ago I emailed folks about a Wallops Island rocket launch visible from DC area & nobody was interested despite the convenient time & location. Reminded me of the The Simpsons "Deep Space Homer" episode where he calls NASA to complain about "boring" space launches. 3-minute bike ride gained a good viewing spot; friends stayed at home to catch up on Facebook funny cat videos.

chrisx

0https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com...laces-to-view/

Does the sierra cascade route pass through some millions of acres of national forest in the eclipse zone?

I depart tomorrow. 3 weeks should put me in the total eclipse of the sun zone. I got yelled at for listening to - try 3:05 for the thought in question

A person with 2 inch tires could surely watch the eclipse in private

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/...id=143536&v=EZ
is this in the zone?
https://www.bikepacking.com/routes/th...-three-rivers/

jefnvk

In that situation, doesn't really sound like a place I'd like to be out on a bike, either.

fietsbob

Well yea, morning fog evaporating in the morning suns's heat, will tend to linger
when the sun is in an eclipse mode, Logically..

Not Foggy this morning, here.. said to hit 90f tomorrow.. 100+ inland away from the ocean.

stevepusser

From what I can see from tour journals, most of the SC route through the path of totality is on remote NFS roads, so you'd be free to camp anywhere. Expect all developed campsites to be full. Maybe you could put on a sad puppy dog face and ask a nice RVer if you could set up camp in a corner of their space. I'd still worry about traffic on the day of the eclipse, so you just might want to schedule a rest day.

There are some inland state parks with hiker-biker sites that could stick to the policy of not turning away cyclists; you can get them to show on the map here: Find a Park - Oregon State Parks and Recreation but I'd call the park first to confirm they will have those sites available.

The Three Sisters area seems to be south of the path.

DropBarFan

Some experts recommend Nebraska for seeing eclipse, crowds will be lightest but with team driving one can get there <24 hours from either coast; pretty good chance of dry weather. Nebraska has nice folks & relatively unspoiled area. Scenery isn't so spectacular but could be nice change of pace.

Trevtassie

Yeppo, there would be some nice viewing in the Sierra Cascades under the path, providing some numpty (and there will be plenty of numpties about) doesn't set the place on fire. I can think of one campsite by the side of the road, next to the coldest damn creek I've ever been in.

nfmisso

We're heading up Forest Road 2632C in Wyoming to >11,400 ft next to Union Peak; which will have >2minutes 24 seconds of totality.

We're not like to find any cars on that road, nor bicycles at that altitude
@chrisx 2" tires ain't going to cut it either ours are LT245/70R17 Kenda Kleaver M/T

nfmisso

Those are all metropolitan areas......too many people.

DropBarFan

Sounds like a plan, you'll be above a lot of the possible clouds I'd guess. Another nice thing is that now one can buy cheap eclipse glasses, has to be a lot better than lame cardboard pinhole "camera' or layers of B&W camera film.

fietsbob

Charter a boat in Newport, go out to sea at dawn, it will be less crazy-crowded than On Shore..

chrisx

Who want s to post the best ways to look at the eclipse? We know not to look at it without protection.
What sorts of protection are verified as good and safe?




link to 4 wheel drive forum
4x4 Off Road Forum at Four Wheeler Network

Now Back to touring cycles

DropBarFan

https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

They say WalMart & 7-Eleven have certified glasses, REI sells a 2X viewer for $10 but I'd go for the Celestron $70 10X solar binoculars they sell.

https://www.rei.com/search.html?q=ec...=stores%3Anull

chrisx

What are the best web sites to predict the cloud and smoke cover for the morning of the 21st?
Do not forget about the Canadian fires. The smoke was bad at Lake Crescent last week.
How far inland do you have to be to see it?

Squeezebox

How far inland?
St. Louis will work as a possibility.

Tourist in MSN

I am not sure how long this link will last, probably no longer than the accuracy of a weather forecast.

chrisx

12 days on the Washington and Oregon coast. No clear mornings.
I am going inland.
I am not convinced the valley, east side of the Coast range is good enough.The east side of the Cascade rangeis my best bet. Madras Oregon has sun in the forcast.

https://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/
I can not seem to find a satellite picture of the smoke. I know they exist.

weather on the coast is great for bike riding. 68 with some clouds. Hiker biker camps with hot water. Sierra Cascade route is hot. 88 and sun. And clear sky for eclipse viewing. Dispersed camping in the national Forest. Many a cold mountain stream to wash up in.