Eclipse from Thompson Peak, August 21, 2017
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IMG_7857.JPG22 viewsSmoke diffused early morning alpenglow lends an eerie quality to the fantastic views.
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IMG_7861.JPG17 viewsThompson Peak casts its shadow into the valley from whence we came; from the Thompson Peak/Mickey's Spire saddle.
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IMG_7863.JPG22 viewsMike joins me on the Thompson Peak/Mickey's Spire saddle. To the east, Castle Peak is barely through the haze on the horizon.
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IMG_7864.JPG19 viewsOn the eastern horizon, barely visible through the haze, lies Castle Peak, just left of center.
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IMG_7866.JPG25 viewsWe had seen several others short-cutting through the scree below the south face of Thompson Peak from the Thompson/Williams saddle--not a route I would have taken--but we were taken by surprise at just how many were already up there. Someone counted a total of 31, including a young man and his dog, who spent the night on the summit! We gingerly stepped over to the northern-most of the split summit blocks.
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IMG_7869.JPG28 viewsBy 10:47, the eclipse had already begun. I tried to imagine what a shadow would like traveling from the west at 1600 mph. How could I capture that? Hopefully I would see a swath of darkness, with areas of daylight at the extreme edges of the field of view of my widest lens. Would there be enough light to handhold, or should I set the camera on a rock and guess a time exposure? I didn't think too long about this. I was enjoying the conversation I was having with these two about about extreme skiing.
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IMG_7871.JPG30 viewsTotality; I never saw a distinct shadow racing in from the west. It was more like a highly compressed sunset. It got cold! Thompson Peak is 10251'; the highest in the Sawtooth. I heard jet aircraft.
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IMG_7873.JPG29 viewsPeople cheered as the corona became the only source of light. Someone said it was OK to view it without protective lenses.
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IMG_7877.JPG30 viewsPeople busied themselves with an array of recording devices. Many had carried tripods to the summit. Some held the inexpensive viewing glasses in front of point-and-shoot cameras.
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IMG_7878.JPG27 viewsIt became strangely quiet as people settled into awe of what they were witnessing from this lofty perspective.
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IMG_7881.JPG40 viewsAs I imagined, there appeared to be daylight on the southern horizon. The digital back of Mike's camera shows brightly in the dim light of totality.
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IMG_7883.JPG38 viewsI tilt up to include the corona--small, but visible with the 16mm.
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