We just got back from Crater Lake National Park where we got to see (barely!!!) the annular solar eclipse (the "ring of fire"). Christina came to visit to see the eclipse, and we gambled on Crater Lake. Unfortunately, the weather did not fully cooperate, but the sun did make a few (incredibly) brief appearances.
We got to the rim where we intended to view the eclipse well behind schedule, which was super annoying since the rest of the world did not (it was busy). There was a bit of snow on the rim - at least two people got stuck which required park rangers to pull them out.
We lucked out with an unappreciated spot just off the rim. After a short 30-second walk, we had an incredible view to ourselves. We had about an hour wait in just above-freezing temperatures with a light wind for the eclipse to begin; however, the clouds had other thoughts.
Right before the full angularity, the clouds finally broke. The photo above was shot with my solar filter on the camera - but it was really hard to frame up and get photos. Once I looked up and saw the eclipse with my own eyes, I figured that if the clouds were thick enough to protect my eyes, they were thick enough to protect the camera.
This allowed me to rapid-fire take a ton of photos. The sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds, but when the full angularity came out, you could hear everyone on the rim cheer and clap. It really was quite neat.
Afterwards, we grabbed lunch at a little place outside the park, and then headed to Toketee Falls. It was about a mile round trip, reasonably crowded (since the trail isn't that rough and is short).
On the way back to our cabin, we stopped at National Creek Falls. It was also a half-mile hike (one way), but since it was off the beaten track, we had the place literally to ourselves.
It was just Leah, Christina, and I who hike to this one - we all agreed it was way better. I took a senior photo of Leah here, we had to be quick since the falls were kicking up a good bit of spray.
Cheers,
Marc
