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Eclipse Camp

Totality was only one part of this amazing adventure for KAVU athlete, Neil Amonson and his friends!

By KAVU

October 17^th, 2017

love it when a plan comes together!

This past summer I found myself on the southern coast of Oregon, fixing up a duplex. My cousin Levi and I drove out from Utah so I could bring my own tools and have an easier time moving construction materials and old carpet, etc.

As luck would have it, the duplex project took me and Levi to Oregon shortly before the solar eclipse. Our plan was to keep working on the project and, just go outside and watch the eclipse from where we were, which was about 400 miles south of the line of totality. However, a call from a friend who lives just outside Portland radically changed our plans. He had plotted a special mission with his brother, some close friends, and a helicopter. They were going to be inserted the day prior to the eclipse, deep in the mountains of Oregon, right on the path of totality.

Epic!

The group would camp out that night, watch the eclipse, and then be flown out the following afternoon and.... there were two extra seats!

Say what?!

Levi and I made the obvious decision to tag along and quickly packed our gear, and headed north to Portland. There would be plenty of time after the eclipse to come back and finish the duplex project! So, one day prior to the eclipse we arrived at the farm and began to prep our gear.

Before we knew it...

...it was time to fly the 45 minutes into the wilderness and to our campsite. No one had actually seen the spot that had been chosen.... it was just from a map study, so we were anxious to see if it was not only land-able for the helicopter, but also suitable for camping. The highways outside of Portland turned into gravel logging roads and soon, no roads at all! Just mountains and trees as far as the eye could see.

We're here!

What we found allowed plenty of room to put down the helicopter and a nice flat field for tent camping. A few trips back and forth to bring the rest of gear and people (and even a dog!) continued while we started "setting up shop".

Laila and River had their mission priorities straight and quickly went to work on making PB&J sandwiches.

About 200 yards north of our landing zone was a massive cliff overlooking a mountain lake! It was perfect for providing an un-obstructed view of the eclipse.

base camp

Slowly, the empty mountain field started to settle out as each group found their spot to call home for the next 24 hours

It was fun to see where each person and group decided to set up their tent. Some prioritized being near the other groups, while others wanted more solitude and a view. Levi and I didn’t even set up a tent and slept next to the cliff on a tarp. The cliff was east facing and we wanted a good view of the sunrise.

community & family

As the sun slowly moved towards the bottom of the sky, dinner preparations were made and everyone started getting excited for sunset.

minds blown

There was a lot of smoke in the sky because of local forest fires which, became a catalyst of explosive color as the sun slowly set. Each minute ,we thought we saw the rich color peak but, each minute.... it just kept getting better! Plenty of photos were taken that evening of a sunset none of us will soon forget. As the orange sky turned red, and then a deep purple, everyone gathered at base camp to share the simple fellowship of friends who found themselves in a lucky place, humbled by the awesome beauty of nature.

A couple hours after dark, Levi wanted to experiment with his new camera and try some night exposures. Having been on a KAVU camping trip a time or two in the past, I know all about night photos! Ha! We took turns drawing words and images in the dark with a headlamp then running back to the camera to see if it “worked”.

It’s a fun way to pass the time and often the results are better then you would think.

In this night photo you can see the numerous forest fires smoldering many miles away in the dark. We weren’t able to see any of the fire with our "naked eyes", only the long exposures of the camera made the glow visible. Also, on the right hand side of the horizon, the 10,500’ tall Mt. Jefferson, the second biggest volcano in Oregon, can be seen standing proud.

After an amazing nights sleep out under the stars...

...my alarm woke me up about 30 minutes before sunrise to a sky filled with jaw dropping color. Sleeping on top of the cliff gave us an impressive view of the eastern sky. The smoke from the forest fires had settled into a low ground fog with the mountain peaks sticking up through it. Above the horizon the sky was beginning to turn a deep rose red as the sun pushed out the darkness of night.

Soon the other campers who stayed at the lower field base camp made their way to our view point to enjoy the sunrise show.

With warm coffee in our hands we all watched with awe as the suns first rays crested over the mountains.

Now, with everyone awake, it was time for breakfast burritos! Each group brought their own food without much coordination so we all shared a variety of snacks and no one was left hungry.

At our remote location, totality was predicted to occur around 10:20am and would last about two minutes.

Now I’ll be honest - I didn’t know why everyone was trying to be on the path of totality. I thought the eclipse would look awesome no matter where you watched it from. Boy was I wrong and here is why.

Even just a few minutes before the moment of totality, the sun was still pretty bright, and everything seemed pretty “normal”. What that means is that if even a little bit of the sun wasn’t blocked by the moon then the effect wasn’t very dramatic. All that changed the very moment totality began.

Suddenly, everything changed! The wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and it got very, very dark. Looking up at the sun was like something from a fairy tale. The normally bright globe had been replaced with a black hole outlined by a fiery shimmering ring. It was amazing! At that moment I understood why people were flocking to the path of totality. It is simply amazing and not that same unless you are directly under it. For two minutes we all experienced subtle emotional shifts from awe to excitement to joy and then even a little sadness when it was over.

Still feeling the body buzz you get when you experience a new unexpected sensation, we all slowly started packing up our camping gear. It took a few trips with the helicopter to get everyone back to the farm. I was happy to take the last flight out and enjoy as much of the experience as possible. It was pretty wild to go from somewhere so remote and back to civilization in a very short amount of time.

What a special trip to be a part of. Whether you watched the eclipse from your backyard, office, top of a mountain, or from the air, I’m sure we all agree it was something VERY memorable. What an amazing reminder of forces that are much bigger then ourselves, and a reminder of the magic of the universe.

For me it was also an excuse to disconnect for a day from my cell phone and emails, and simply enjoy being outside with friends to watch something beautiful. I’ll tell you what... next time there is a total solar eclipse, you’ll see me right in the thick of it with all the rest of the crazy eclipse chasers. I’m officially hooked! If you didn’t make it to the path of totality this time, I highly recommend making the effort in 2024.

It’s absolutely worth it.

Follow Neil and Jump-4-Joy here!

Footnotes

Neil consistently shows us that KAVU is a perspective...live to the fullest, work hard and seek happiness while sharing the love for life with as many friends as possible. KAVU indeed!

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FootNotes

Neil consistently shows us that KAVU is a perspective...live to the fullest, work hard and seek happiness while sharing the love for life with as many friends as possible. KAVU indeed!

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