In The Moon's Shadow

Our intrepid totality chaser sets out for Casper, WY, to capture the Great American Eclipse

- Everen T. Brown

For last year’s Indonesia eclipse, I traveled 9,877 miles to get to the point of totality. This August it was great fun to drive a mere 416 miles from my home to Casper, WY, to view the aptly titled “Great American Eclipse.” I was even happier to be in the same time zone as well. With a path of totality stretched across the United States millions of Americans were within a six-hour drive to view this natural phenomenon.

Casper was my choice for a variety of reasons, number one being the weather. The area was forecast to have clear weather on eclipse day. The Astronomical League, a group of astronomy clubs and societies, also made Casper their choice for totality. The small army of stargazers held their yearly “Astrocon” convention beginning the week before the eclipse. Lots of tour groups and independent eclipse chasers descended on this city of over 59,000 people as well.

With so many people coming to Casper, the locals hired an “eclipse director” to coordinate local events. A website was built (eclipsecasper.com) to help spread the word of the various happenings around the city and most importantly, how to view the eclipse safely. The “Oil City” went to work years before to roll out the red carpet for eclipse visitors and delivered a wonderful set of festivals and events.

Getting ready for the eclipse deluge was huge and Casper residents were told to prepare for the sudden impact. Restaurants were asked to extend their hours and order more food than usual. Souvenir shops stocked up on goods. A local bus system was set up to alleviate parking and traffic issues. Most all hotels were sold out in advance so getting a last-minute room was near impossible.