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Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Smokemont Campground
Cherokee, NC
- Dates: August 17–23, 2017.
- Site Number: D14
- Coordinates: 35° 33′ 44″ North, 83° 18′ 41″ West
- Vibe: Good campground in the foothills of a great national park.
- Weather:
- Thursday: Nice afternoon
- Friday: Cloudy start, but clearing
- Saturday: Sunny and steamy
- Sunday: Fine
- Monday: Clear and great weather for an eclipse!
- Tuesday: Fine
- Wednesday: Fine
- Pros: Great base of operations. National park is huge and there's lots to do.
- Cons: Needs a few minor improvements to go from a good campground to ta great one.
- Verdict: Very happy to have stayed here, despite minor flaws.
This free script provided by JavaScript Kit &3124; Corona photo credit: ABC News
Steve's Review:
August 21, 2017—the day of The Great American Eclipse!
Our Monday began (?) with a large camper rolling in around 2 AM to camp just two sites away from ours. After an hour of noise, loud talking, and bright lights, things finally calmed down. It is simply astonishing how inconsiderate some people are!
The real day began auspiciously. We got an early start, waking at 6 AM and getting ice. We were on the road by 6:40 AM. Believe it or not, we were not the first to leave the campground! Much to our delight, traffic at this early hour was very light. Somewhere near the halfway point to Bryson City, we came upon a majestic buck elk, who looked right at us and waited for our car to pass slowly before crossing the road. We took this as a good omen. The rest of the way to Bryson City was virtually car-free and we found a great parking spot in the center of town at the visitor center.
After a hearty breakfast at the Everett Diner, we chilled a bit in fron of the visitor center. The building also houses the Swan County Historical Museum on the second floor nad there are many interesting objects, photos and other artifacts of early settlers there.
Around noon we walked over to Fry Street, where there was a band performing Appalachian Rock & Blues called The Country Store. B was bumming out about the music, so he walked backed to the visitor center (and its wifi). A little after 1 PM, we could see that the moon was begnning to take a bite out of the sun. At this point, it was still very bright. Looking through the solar glasses we got at Claytor Lake, all you could see was a pale orange-colored disc of the Sun, but there was definitely a little chip missing. Over the next hour and a half, as we got closer to totality, the visible portion became thinner and thinner. Even with 95% of the sun covered by the black disc of the moon, it still was daytime: it was as bright as a very overcat day where the sun is still faintly visible through the clouds—definitely not a bright day, but a day nonehteless.
As we approached totality, everything stopped. Across the street, the waiters and waitresses at a restaurant climbed onto its roof to watch. Sunlight dappling through the trees was casting crescent-shaped dapples. We brought a colander that made a pattern of perfectly-formed crescents on the ground (a safe way to "watch" the eclipse approach if you don't have safety glasses, by the way). Meanwhile, the band was playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (appropriately).
In the last minute before totality, the crescent narrowed and then the ends of the crescent began to contract toward each other. When the two ends met, it created an incredible "diamond ring" effect, where the last visible bit of the Sun shone like a bright jewel and the now visible corona around the black disc of the moon formed the ring. A second or two later, we were cast into darkness—not a pitch-black darkness as we could see sunlit sky encircle us near the horizon—but it was a dusky darkness. The crowd was hooting and really enjoying this!
The corona is nearly impossible to describe. In the center of the sky above us is a black hole (the moon) from which there is only emptiness. Surrounding this, is the ring of the Sun's corona extending out 3 or 4 times the diameter of the moon. Surrounding this, is a star-filled sky. We could see Jupiter and Venus quite clearly, although I do not remember noticing Mars or any particular stars, even though the sun was in the familiar constellation of Leo. Surrounding the stars was a 360° horizon of dusk. It's like when the sun has set, the western horizon is still pretty well lit, only in this case, that horizon wraps completely around you.
The color of the corona was a complete surprize to me. We tend to think of the Sun as having a warm, yellowish-white light, but with the Sun hidden, the corona was a pure white light, almost like an opalescent luminus light. The closest thing I can think of it white mother-of-pearl. It is an arresting and thoroughly irresistible light.
Click to view video
I had the camera recording video of us and the crowd so we later watch see how it got dark. Watch the video clip above. It's amazing how quickly it gets dark. It's also interesting to watch the shadows fade as it gets darker. I was also recording audio through a voice recorder. I was unable to take photos of the eclipse with my cellphone (due to a low battery). Instead I switched the point-and-shoot from vidoe to stills, but the results were pretty weak. It all went by SO fast! The eclipse ended with the diamond ring effect, followed by the partial eclipse recurring in reverse.
When totality ends, most people go home. There's really nothing to see that you did not already see in the lead-up to totality. Months—even years—of preparation and anticipation, and it was all over in two minutes!
We stayed in town a bit and had some good burgers at a local pub, but it all felt pretty anitclimactic after the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle we had just witnessed.
next...—SBW
