Monday: the first solar eclipse to travel ‘cross the USA since June 1918 (99 years).  Totality – FULL eclipse of the daytime sun – not in Colorado, but only 4 hours away in Casper, Wyoming.  TOTAL ECLIPSE on my Birthday – it’s a sign, right?  This year’s BIRTHDAY CAMPING destination 🙂

Wyoming, America’s LEAST populated state (literally #50, behind Alaska & Vermont).  ALL hotels, B&B’s, hostels – EVERY SINGLE ROOM booked, no exaggeration.  Paid $35/night (3 months ago) to camp in an open field, private land on Casper Mountain – turned out to be the deal of the weekend!

Past 2 weeks: ECLIPSE, the buzz word in the office/neighborhood/weekly run group/gym.

So many people travelling north to rural Wyoming, news media warning Coloradans to carry food, water, gasoline.  Phone carrier bringing in 2 temporary cell towers to handle the volume increase.

Yikes.  Do I stay or do I go-go?

Packed, planned accordingly.  Left home at 4am Saturday morning.

Wyoming expecting a crush of 600,000 people, most coming from Colorado

 

 

Coloradans hoping to catch the Aug. 21 solar eclipse at the last minute shouldn’t count on catching the moment when the sun is blacked out by the moon. Without a strategy to view the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, they may find themselves stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 25 instead.

 

When the sky darkens during the much-anticipated event, it will be the well-prepared who get to enjoy its splendor. Among the key tips: leave early, pack extra supplies and arrange a place to stay ahead of time. Otherwise, risk facing bumper-to-bumper traffic and overcrowded campsites at every turn.

 

Some are predicting that up to 600,000 people will travel to Wyoming (2016 population: 585,501), hoping to squeeze into the 67-mile wide swath of darkness — known as the totality — that will cut across the state that morning, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

 

About two-thirds of those visitors are expected to flood into Wyoming from the south, putting an incredible stress on roads like I-25, which normally accommodates about 83,000 vehicles a day, CDOT spokesman Jared Fiel said.

 

“When we’re talking about adding that many more people to the roads, it’s going to be intimidating,” Fiel said. “We are fully planning for it be pretty bad. The earlier you can get up there, the better because we really don’t know what’s going to happen.”

 

Traffic and finding a perfect campsite aren’t the only inconveniences in the run-up to the eclipse. Cell phone service may also be hard to come by.

 

“Certainly the cell towers in Wyoming weren’t meant to handle that situation,” CDOT’s Fiel said, suggesting travelers bring walkie talkies.

Not a soul on the highway at 4am.  Watched the sunrise just past Chugwater.  Antelope grazed where one normally sees cattle.  Breakfast’d in downtown Casper, then claimed my campsite 20 minutes away on Casper Mountain.

10:22am.  Tented, dog walked/fed/water’d.

No plans today [hike day tomorrow] – honestly, thought I’d still be in traffic.  Google-search’d nearby OUTDOOR activities.

Independence Rock: 40 minutes west, HISTORICAL, dog-friendly.  Check, done 🙂

Dry grass-sparse ranch land, Casper to Alcova.  mid-1800’s, three National Trails crossed Independence Rock: Oregon Trail (infamous Missouri to Oregon trek), California Trail (Gold Rush of ‘49) & the Mormon Trail (Brigham Young migration to Utah).

Independence Rock, first blip on the prairie since Casper.  Going UP?  Absolutely!  Not remotely technical – first glance looked like an impossible climb, no more than a moderate hike.  Rainwater pooled in naturally-eroded cracks on the Rock’s surface.

For emigrants, Independence Rock was a celebrated milestone.  Arrival on or by the Fourth of July indicated the western mountains could likely be crossed before winter snowfall.

Back on Casper Mountain, past few hours/campsite had grown into a community – joined by another 30-40 RVs/tents.  Sunset, temps dropped.  First night’s meal: crab cakes, polenta & kale (pan warmed/previously prepared).   Not bad for camping, right? ❤