We will be at the Madras airport also. Going to be a zoo there.

So I've been talking to a fb friend and we were talking about the eclipse. He just sent me this:

"We were in Boise doing some river rafting over the weekend and stopped into smiley creek for breakfast. I talked to the new care takers about the eclipse and they tell me the sheriff department will be taking a good amount of the tie down areas for there command post as they're expecting 500k people. I hope to be feeling proficient by then to go into a more remote strip to enjoy the serenity of the eclipse without the masses!"

Isn't that a little BS. I mean, they can set up anywhere, but we can only land at specific places. While SC would be a great spot, I think it's close proximity to the direct path and facilities will make it a mad house.

Where is everyone thinking about going?


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Its frustrating to me too but similar things are going on at many airports that line up with the eclipse path. The local agency's are making it sound like any place with a decent view will be swarming with people. I'm probably headed to Mackay, ID. We have a place near the airport so if I see any familiar planes I'll come say hi.

I'm going to try Warm Springs, plan B will be Graham, Plan C is stay home in Boise. Originally I had planned on Smiley Creek, but gave up on that idea months ago because of the hype in the press about how big the crowds are expected to be. A few bits of trivia I have found out thru work, The forest service will close ALL roads in the totality zone a week before the eclipse to prevent thousands of people from getting lost, stuck, drag their gas tank on a rock and start a fire, etc. and a tour company from China will be bringing 3000 people to watch the eclipse from the top of Manan Butte near Idaho falls. Don't know a lot of details on that one, but they have a permit from BLM and claim to have sold out all tickets long ago. The $175.00-400.00 tickets for a chairlift ride to the top of sun valley sold out months ago. If the predictions are close to accurate, it will be a nightmare on the roads. ISP is recommending everyone travelling carry 3 days worth of food and water in your car that weekend. The biggest fear according to the police is bad weather, if the forecast calls for clouds they may have 500,000 people trying to get to a better location on Sunday, all using 2 lane roads and most of them not local and not familiar with the area.

What a nightmare. But, closing all the roads is actually good news for those wanting to access strips off the beaten path. It should cut down on those there.

I think Warm Springs is out plan A. I just thought about Bruce Meadows. That might be a plan B option.

Sounds like a good time to be accessing the area by air and laughing at those stuck in traffic on the ground.


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I'm puzzled.... why are all the eclipse seekers going to remote areas? Won't they be able to see it from anywhere in the path?

Oh, I just checked and see it is outside of the zone. Garden Valley looks to be a good plan A.


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Copper Basin would seem to be a good spot too. Higher altitude and clear viewing...obviously higher DA too.


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The problem with the remote strips in the Idaho backcountry is that they are set in the mountains. With high terrain all around you, you miss the opportunity to look across the landscape and see the wall of night racing across the land at 2,955 Mph (in Central Oregon). You will also miss the orange glow out in the distance at the edge of the shadow. An eclipse is a phenomenal event and you should do everything possible to see as much of it as possible.

Three years ago I made reservations at a small ranch B&B in Central Oregon that has a dirt runway. They only have 3 cabins and they went pretty fast. There won't be big crowds and that's just fine for me. There will be 4 planes there though. I can't wait! In the future, other folks interested in a B&B in the desert with a runway, it is called Lands Inn, and the airport is 49OR.


There is a private ranch nearby that has a paved runway and camping facilities for hunters staying at the ranch. I didn't check with them because my wife won't sleep on the ground anymore, but if anyone is interested, the airport is Antone, 65OG, and their website is https://www.antoneranch.com

Grassstrippilot wrote:Isn't that a little BS. I mean, they can set up anywhere, but we can only land at specific places. While SC would be a great spot, I think it's close proximity to the direct path and facilities will make it a mad house.

Where is everyone thinking about going?

I'll be in Bear Lake and was thinking of flying up to Rexburg... have a tie down spot secured, and family close by. I'm not sure I want to do that though if its going to be a total goat rodeo

KRXE is expecting a ton of traffic.

Flyhound wrote:The problem with the remote strips in the Idaho backcountry is that they are set in the mountains. With high terrain all around you, you miss the opportunity to look across the landscape and see the wall of night racing across the land at 2,955 Mph (in Central Oregon). You will also miss the orange glow out in the distance at the edge of the shadow. An eclipse is a phenomenal event and you should do everything possible to see as much of it as possible.

Ok, so now that out AK is done I've got some time to start giving this some thought. You've actually done some research on this so I'm trying to catch up. So...some people talked about being airborne for it. The effects you describe wound really cool. Is there an optimum altitude that you could be at over mountainous terrain to see the effects? Or, instead of targeting a mountain strip, maybe it would make more sense to target a desert strip...like Midway, Big Southern Butte or Howe.


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Grassstrippilot wrote:

Flyhound wrote:The effects you describe wound really cool. Is there an optimum altitude that you could be at over mountainous terrain to see the effects?

GSP: The effects out across the landscape I mentioned are just the things folks don't normally think about. The eclipse itself is also an amazing thing to watch. As the moon's shadow slowly eats away at the sun's disc, you can begin to see solar prominences (the red looking balls of fire that are thrown off of the sun), if you have some binoculars, or a small telescope. Be SURE to use solar filters either on the viewing device itself, or over your eyes! The solar filters/glasses are MUCH darker than normal sunglasses. That means you can't see anything around you when you are wearing them. Flying with solar filter glasses on isn't possible. You won't be able to see the panel, or any outside references. If you take the glasses off to fly, you can't look at the eclipse. I strongly suggest finding an elevated viewing location in the desert. and stay firmly planted on the ground so you can take it all in. Here's a couple of shots I took with a small telescope at my last eclipse. The first image is known as the "diamond Ring" for obvious reasons. You can see the solar prominences around the darker edge of the sun. The second was taken during totality and you can see multiple red looking lines around the edge of the moon's shadow. .It just looks red because that is the wavelength of light that diffracts around the moon's disc.

Very cool! Thanks for the info.

I guess one could take a safety pilot, log simulated instrument time and enjoy the eclipse at the same time. . I think those thinking of flying were wanting to see how long they could stay in the shadow...or see the shadow move across the ground from the air. Either way, looks like it should be pretty cool. I guess I need to start looking at getting some filters to look through.


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Flyhound wrote:.....Be SURE to use solar filters either on the viewing device itself, or over your eyes! The solar filters/glasses are MUCH darker than normal sunglasses. That means you can't see anything around you when you are wearing them. Flying with solar filter glasses on isn't possible. You won't be able to see the panel, or any outside references. If you take the glasses off to fly, you can't look at the eclipse. .....

I wonder if one of those welding hoods with the electronic lens might be an option.
You'd look like a character out of Mad Max wearing it while flying, but if it works....

My kids went to a eclipse show at a planetarium. Afterwards they were sure to inform me that I could not wear my welding hood to view the eclipse unless I installed a #14 lens. My electronic hood doesn't go that dark. 14 is really dark.

So I'm seeing everything from glasses with real frames to the 3D movie type glasses on Amazon. All get good reviews and look to have similar really dark lenses. Thoughts?


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I'm not sure if Garden Valley is a very good option, because it's to close to Boise. Camp sites at Garden Valley are being rented out at $120.00 and up right now, Parking spots for a car are going for $20.00, and the town should be a complete goat rope on eclipse day. They have a facebook page to drum up business for it. Flying over the Banks-Lowman road after the eclipse might provide some entertainment value. Also Garden Valley is in a canyon.

All of the eclipse glasses work fine - even the cardboard ones. The only problem with the cardboard ones is that they don't fit all that well and they let more peripheral light in around the edges than some of the rigid frame glasses do. Since there won't be another total solar eclipse in the US until 2024, you might not want to spend any more money than necessary. This will be my 4th eclipse and I have good, plastic eclipse shades, but I'll be taking a bunch of cardboard ones with me to hand out to anyone without shades. You can also get solar filters for most cameras that accept screw-in filters if you are so inclined.

Cool thanks hound.

As for Garden Valley, I've thought about the canyon aspect. Other than that, I don't plan on leaving the confines of the strip so as long as there is a place to park and camp, that's all I'm looking for. I worry a little bit about Warm Springs where there isn't much there to keep non aviators out of that campsite. In fact I don't even know if that is supposed to be aviators only. I'm thinking maybe not.


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If I had a plane I think I'd be headed to Deadwood.

It would be cool to hike to the top of Borah and watch the eclipse from there but there are probably a lot of other people with the same idea.