Words cannot describe.

Witnessing the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017 was one of the most amazing events I’ve ever experienced.  I will try my best to describe it but words fail in the advent of such breathtaking beauty.

I left Salt Lake City for Grand Teton National Park on Saturday, August 19th at 4:00 in the morning, hoping to beat weekend traffic and allow myself two full days to scout for a location from which to shoot.  First contact would begin at 10:17 AM, with totality at 11:35 expected to last approximately two minutes.  I’ve always been a big picture kind of guy, and wanted to place the sun against a vast landscape to capture my own personal experience of the eclipse rather than a close up shot of the classic Diamond Ring image.  This would prove challenging because the sun would be high in the sky facing away from the Teton Range.  With creativity a necessity, I spent Saturday and Sunday hiking through the Jenny Lake and Cascade Canyon areas looking for possible compositions.  Many miles later I decided my best bet was to position the sun against the mountainous backdrop of Cascade Canyon.

After two hours of sleep I headed out pre-dawn on Monday morning only to be greeted by the world populace descending into the Park.  Luckily most of the cars branched off towards the Gros Ventre designated viewing area, and I was merely the second car at the String Lake trailhead. I hiked about 4 miles into Cascade Canyon until I came to a rock field preselected to be my self-designated eclipse viewing area.  With two hours to spare, I set up and rested on a large boulder for a higher vantage point, watching and listening to the waterfall cascade down the opposite face, the flowing river at the canyon floor, and the sights and sounds of nature surrounding me.  As first contact began, a few other hikers arrived and found boulders distantly spaced apart to make their own, and together we waited.

Totality was an eerily surreal experience. A sudden temperature drop preceded complete silence, and the sky was quickly enveloped in complete darkness with weird light and shadows appearing in places you’d never expect.  Internally I was completely at peace but at the same time felt unnerved by the fact it was difficult to fathom the seemingly apocalyptic event that was happening. It was a complete trip of the mind and senses yet one of the most emotionally beautiful things I’ve ever experienced.  When the event was over I realized tears were slowly crawling down my face (if you were to ask me I will vehemently deny it), but part of my emotional response was a result of feeling like part of the human experience.  During those two minutes I, the hikers around me, and millions of other people were all staring at the same incredible phenomenon.  It was a once in a lifetime experience…

…at least until April 8, 2024.