So what are you plans 3 years from today April 8th 2024

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peakbagger

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https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/april-8-2024

Looks like the edge of totality might just skim the northern edge of the WMNF but the centerline is farther north in Errol and Pittsburg or parts of Northwestern Maine and over towards Moosehead lake. BSP is in the path but its typically closed this time of year. Les Otten had best get going on his resort as accommodations up in that area are pretty slim. Pittsburg bans all overnight camping except at private campgrounds.
 
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My plan for this one was originally Roger's Ledge but now I'm thinking I'll need to find another option if I don't want a lot of company.
 
Weather in that part of April can be iffy and private roads can be closed due to mud season. In general the road network can get plugged up with traffic and my guess many folks will be heading north on I 91 so gettingto where you want to go will be the challenge.
 
My sister lives in Jackson Hole and has first hand experience of what happens when the eclipse comes to town. I don't plan on being anywhere near that path.
 
My home in northern NY is barely within the zone of totality. 60 miles away, my brother has a camp on the shore of Lake Ontario, very close to the cener line. I may go there, or to my daughter's home in Plattsburgh, also near the center line.

Given favorable weather, I think it would be easy to avoid any annoying crowds in my region. Either way, even under clouds, a total solar eclipse is a life experience not to be missed. You will never forget the experience. My first total eclipse expedition was in 1970, when I drove with college buddies to the north end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I was on an overlook where I could see the edge of the shadow russhing toward me over the water at 1000 mph. A truly ominous feeling. The next year I traveled north to Cap Chat Quebec for a mostly clouded out event, though still an impressive experence. In 2017 I visited a retrired military buddy whose home was on the center line in Missouri under perfectly clear skies. I don't have a lot of hope for clear skies in April 2024, but may travel if necessary to a forecast clear area if it is bad near my home area. Don't miss it!
 
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It's a Monday a week after Easter which falls on 3/31/2024. VRBO or Air BNB might the how to take three of four days to enjoy

Also looks like part of the ADK falls under the path also, as well as Rochester and Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Since you can't look directly at an Eclipse, is above treeline where I want to be or looking at Niagara Falls under that kind of lighting?
 
You went up to Saratoga
and your horse naturally won
Then you...
 
You can look at an eclipse through the proper shade filter. The last time around all sorts of folks were selling filters that were not certified and could cause eye damage. And of course the former president declared that squinting real hard was good enough.
 
you can absolutely look directly at an eclipse with the naked eye as long as it is in total phase. I have even viewed directly through a telescope with no attenuation during totality. It is perfectly safe as long as you know when to look away before the diamond ring appears with the first direct harmful rays of the sun. There is computer program you can download wherein when you insert your coordinates, it will give you an audible countdown warning of when to look away.

The big myth comes about because of all the warnings to not view an eclipse duiring any partial phase by the news media. when the sun is partially or mostly covered by the moon before or after totality, it may not hurt at the moment as much as it normally does to otherwise look directly at the fully uncovered sun, but damage will be done to your vision in either case anyway. It is because most of the population does not reside in the zone of totality that such warnings must be given to not look at a partial solar eclipse. A fully covered sun during a total eclipse does not pose the danger, but the first moments of exposure after totatality does, just as directly looking at the briight sun does on any other day.
 
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It looks like we will get a good look at this in Keene, NY, if the weather cooperates for the event.

Looking directly into the sun says something else about "most of the population" but it would be unpopular to present that fact here...
 
Mt Aziscohos on the Me NH border might be a nice place to view it. Its prominent summit with open views 360 degrees.
 
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I think I will be officially retired, collecting social security and a pension and living as a nomad in a converted cargo trailer. I think I'll go view it in Texas.
 
Nessmuk is of course correct. I've witnessed 3 eclipses, and you can use your eyes, binoculars, or even a small telescope to view a TOTAL eclipse. There are other safe ways to view it. You can project it onto a piece of paper thru binocs or a scope (but this can heat up the internals, do it briefly). You can watch the shadows on the ground start to become sharper and see crescent shaped points of light where before there were circles. A welder's glass rated 14 or higher is safe. An eclipse is something that can not be adequately described with words. And it's more than just a few minutes of totality, the experience lasts over an hour.

And yes, the local area can become quite crowded with people, but this eclipse will cover quite a bit of the US. I doubt people will travel to small towns in upstate NE, unless they are already close by, (or the towns start huge publicity campaigns!)

And for peakbaggers, Katahdin is almost dead center in the path, but good luck with that!
 
In general, mountainous regions are poor places to view an eclipse--the probability of clear skies is low and if the local area is cloudy the roads will clog up rapidly.

In 2017, I was with a group of serious eclipse watchers. We met at a hotel in central Missouri with a local viewing site and an alternate in western Missouri. Both were predicted to be cloudy, so we did a last-minute 5-hr dash to a site in Illinois just short of the Tennessee border. We had a few passing clouds, but the sky was clear for the main event.

Yes, you need eye (and camera) protection (sun-viewing glasses or a solar filter) if any part of the sun's disk is visible. Naked eye viewing and unfiltered camera use is safe during totality (a max of ~6 minutes--depends on the eclipse and your location).

A total eclipse is an amazing and spectacular event--I highly recommend viewing one if you get the chance. (Some of the members of the above group have traveled world-wide to view them.)

Doug
 

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