Scouting for the Eclipse

We are staying in Dubois, Wyoming and will be here during the solar eclipse on August 21.  Our friends Jane and Kim, from England, have flown in and will be meeting us when they arrive at Togwatee Lodge, where they will be staying for a couple days.  Since we are here several days ahead of time, we offered to scout several possible locations where they can photograph the eclipse.

The requirements for a good eclipse photography site are not the easiest to meet.  For example, the site needs a good view across an expanse to the northwest so that it is possible to photograph the moonshadow as it races across the country.  The site also needs a good view across an expanse to the southeast to facilitate photos of the shadow as it races away.  And it needs a clear sky where the sun will be at eclipse time.  Finally, to really make the site special, it should be dramatic.  For example, Jane and Kim are hoping to get photos of the Grand Tetons as they hunt the sun.

We tried to focus on sites near Togwatee Pass, where Kim and Jane will be staying, and Dubois, where we are.  We visited three ranger offices - two for the Shoshone National Forest, which administers forest lands east of the Continental Divide where we are on U.S. Highway 26, and one for the Bridger-Teton National Forest, which administers forest lands to the west of the Continental Divide.  We also chatted with locals in Dubois as we shopped for coffee, breakfast and meats.

This gave us a list of TEN different locations, in addition to the one Kim and Jane were originally considering.  Their choice was Snow King Mountain, just southeast of Jackson, which has an absolutely breathtaking view of the southern Grand Tetons. Another possibility mentioned by one of the forest rangers is Signal Mountain, which is in Grand Teton National Park and would present even more dramatic views of the northern Tetons than the view from Jackson.  Because Jane and Kim are familiar with these locations, we concentrated on other spots.

We started with locations in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and either side of the Continental Divide near Togwatee Pass.  Our first spot was at Four Mile Meadow, not so far from Moran, Wyoming.  The location is up a four-mile dirt road, on a promontory that offered dramatic views of the Tetons.  While it also had a grand view of land below to the northwest, views to the southeast would be limited:

Our second spot was Togwatee Lookout, which is just below the summit of Togwatee Pass on U.S. 26.  This seemed to meet all of our criteria, but its view of the Tetons is not as dramatic as Four Mile Meadow.  Neverthess, it has a much wider panorama both to the northwest and southeast, which would maximize opportunities to view the moving moonshadow:

Our third site was the most unique of the selections - Brooks Lake.  Standing on the shore, we had dramatic views of The Pinnacles to the southeast --

-- and the front of mountains at the Continental Divide to the northwest.  However, sweeping views of the moonshadow sweeping across landscapes might not be available.  This might be offset by very unusual views of the shadow on the mountains on either side.

Next, we moved east to the Fremont National Forest, near Dubois.  Our first stop was Union Pass, which Jim Bridger and other mountain men and guides used to cross the Rockies before South Pass was discovered and became more popular for travelers on the Oregon Trail.  Union Pass presented us with grand panoramas in both directions, but without dramatic mountain views:

Near Union Pass, the forest rangers also recommended a location with a good view of Union Peak to the southeast, the direction in which the shadow would recede from us.  Again, however, this location lacks dramatic mountain views.

Another unusual lake view is presented at Ring Lake, in the Whiskey Basin Wildlife Management Area adjoining the Fitzpatrick Wilderness and a dramatic entry point for hikes and backpacks into the Wind River Range.  However, the site doesn't offer sweeping open space where the path of the shadow can be photographed.

Exhausted, but pleased with the variety of choices we found, we returned to our RV to digest what we found.  We'll present these to Kim and Jane when we see them tomorrow.  They will pick their favorite, but we think our favorite was Togwatee Lookout.  That being said, Brooks Lake is simply awesome, so here is a video that will give you a sense of the drama of Brooks Lake:

We'll report next week on Jane and Kim's ultimate choice, as well as the whole epic eclipse-chasing adventure once it's happened.