Thanks to math and science, we have known that the Great American Eclipse of 2017 would happen for a long time The question in the many months leading up to it was where to experience and photograph this neat event. Our group of photography adventuring friends scoured the eclipse path for possible locations with varying criteria. We had to be within totality. We wanted to be up high in the mountains with a chance to capture the shadow approaching. We wanted a good chance at clear skies. And hopefully, we would be in a relatively unpopular or difficult to reach place. Ultimately we settled on Sawtooth Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains in southern Idaho. This location looked spectacular, wasn’t too far of a trek to haul 50 pound packs stuffed with camera gear, and the weather forecast was clear. After hiking in on Sunday the 20th and spending the night, this slightly smoky but spectacular view on Eclipse Day greeted us the next morning. The blue mirror waters of Sawtooth Lake rest at 8,435 feet elevation below while the iconic Mount Regan rises above it to a height of 10,190 feet. This is the view from an unnamed ridge above the lake at around 9,000 feet. It was a wonderful view to start the day of the eclipse.

Tags:   area backpacking idaho. mount lake morning mountain mountains national recreation reflection regan sawtooth smoke snow trees

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Standing on a ridge line at 9,000 feet above a pristine lake on this fine summer day in southern Idaho, the Sun’s light grew ever dimmer starting a little after 10AM. By 11:20AM I had the odd impression of having my sunglasses on even though I had switched back to my normal glasses. Looking directly at the sun through eclipse glasses, black orb of the Moon was steadily overtaking the Sun and it was really getting to be just a sliver. And yet, it was still quite bright outside really. You would still think of it as daylight. And then…… lights out! In nearly an instant suddenly it was twilight. Starting from 11:28:04AM we were plunged into a surreal twilight realm where it looked like a 360 degree sunset with night sky overhead. Now, without eclipse glasses on, I could look up at the Sun and just see a black orb surrounded by the brilliant white corona. Of course we know exactly what causes a solar eclipse now, but it was fun to look up in wonder and ponder what it must have seemed like if you had no idea what was happening. It was mind blowing to witness in 2017 and it must have been truly profound thousands of years ago. It did leave the impression that the sun was off like a light switch, and when just the tiniest bit of sunlight crept back around the Moon at 11:30:18, the lights came back on due to how incredibly powerful even the smallest bit of direct sunlight is and the fact that the shadow is racing at 1800mph across the land. Throughout the Sawtooth Wilderness the hundreds of people who had gathered around this place erupted in shouts and cheers that echoed through the valleys below. It was really not an experience I will ever forget. I think I will make an effort to be in the path of the shadow again.

Tags:   area backpacking corona eclipse idaho. mount lake moon morning mountain mountains national national recreation area recreation reflection regan sawtooth smoke snow solar sun sunset total totality trees twilight

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In an instant the Sun’s light was back. This view, taken through a Nikon 500mm F8 reflex (mirror) lens on my Sony A6300, captures an instant as the incredible brightness of unblocked sunlight burst forth from behind the Moon. Around the Sun you can make out the Sun’s atmosphere, the white corona, while a couple of large red solar prominences can be seen flanking the incoming flood of photons. Coronal streamers give detail to the white atmosphere, echoing the intense lines of magnetic fields that battle on the surface of the Sun. The intense light is flaring through the old mirror lens and moments later I would replace the solar filter on top in order to prevent melting any parts of the camera or lens. In the world outside the camera’s viewfinder, it was just as stunning how instantly bright it was with the shadow’s umbra passing as it was with the darkness of its arrival.

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Mount Regan can be seen in a near perfect reflection in Sawtooth Lake on this smoke-free morning after the eclipse. The 10,190 foot summit is reflected in the 8,435 foot alpine lake with a level of clarity I’ve almost never seen in any high lake. There was no wind for a time as the first rays of the morning sunlight started expanding down from the summit. The calm was a bit of a contrast from the day before, which featured a host of human activity as people hiked around to position themselves for the dance of the moon and the Sun. In the planning for our eclipse adventure, I must say I found the photos did not do Sawtooth lake justice. This is an incredibly beautiful spot in the rugged and gorgeous Sawtooth Mountains. I hope to return again sometime and explore deeper.

Tags:   area backpacking idaho. mount lake morning mountain mountains national recreation reflection regan sawtooth smoke snow trees

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The Moon, during a time when its orbit is closer to the Earth, passes perfectly in front of the Sun on August 21, 2017. For a precious short duration, “totality” arrives as if someone had turned off the sun with a switch. The transition from even the tiniest bit of sunlight peeking out from behind the Moon and darkness is profoundly abrupt. In the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho where we were, a sudden eruption of people cheering erupted throughout the wilderness, with everyone unseen to the naked eye because we were all so transfixed. The Suns incredible magnetic fields shape its incredibly hot atmosphere made visible here, while a few flares many times the size of the Earth can seen like fiery fingers reaching out.

It’s a profound experience worth repeating, though I won’t be joining in tomorrow’s eclipse. If you are lucky enough to get a view, I hope you’re able to see and appreciate the wonder for those precious few minutes.

This view was made with a Nikon 500mm mirror reflex lens mounted to a Sony A6300

Tags:   500mm a6300 adapted corona coronal eclipse f8 flare idaho. mount lens flare mirror mountains nikkor nikon prominence prominences reflex sawtooth solar sony streamers sun total totality wilderness

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