August 21, 2017 was a big day for America and it meant so much more for myself. It all started a week before the big day. I was surfing internet and the eclipse news popped into my eyes. "A total solar eclipse is coming to America on August 21, 2017." It is a very exacting news for me because I haven't seen a total solar eclipse before. I have seen a partial one when I was young but the experience between a partial and total eclipse is incomparable. Quickly after I found that California would only get a partial one too, I was a little disappointed. The closest total solar eclipse was in Oregon. Maybe I should go this time I thought. It was a bit far but still manageable. I send some texts to my friends to see their reactions on this event but none seems interested. I waited a day but the idea of going to see the Eclipse just kept growing stronger and stronger. This time I pulled out the big gun by using the big words on the internet to urge them. Told them last time it showed up on this continent was 30 years ago; this much anticipated eclipse was astronomical event of a generation; and it's called the 'Great American Eclipse'. They brought it. I was so happy and on the other hand I quickly making my preparations. I went to b&h site brought a super telephoto lens (Canon 100-400mm L II) and a Canon 1.4x extender so that I would have 560mm and still be able to auto focus. I also know that shooting the sun is very dangerous to my eyes and the camera sensor but all the big stopper were sold out in b&h at that time so I picked up a B+W 1000x ND on ebay. All my shipment was going to arrive on that Friday. I was super pumped. The day after I made the purchase, I felt maybe I need something special for this big event so I made another purchase. I brought a DJI Mavic this time. Clearly I was over my head because I have never handled a drone before and DJI Mavic is a pretty good drone. It's definitely not a toy to mess with and not something I can master just by flying couple of times. At the time, I didn't know that. I was thinking I must leave no regret for this trip.
Saturday August 19, my friends and I went on the trip to Oregon to eclipse. Four of us rented a compact Mazda 3 that's all I can afford after I made so much purchases. Disrespect interior space of the car was kinda small, we still had lots of fun nevertheless. Nothing is gonna ruin my mood I thought, but couple of hours later I found I made a huge mistake. I forgot to book the hotels! Most of the hotels were completely packed in Oregon and in North Cal near Oregon. It was pain in the butt to find a hotel within our budget and accessible but we manage to find one just in time in Sacramento. After a little night tour in Sacramento, we all decided to go to bed "early" because we all knew it's gonna be a long day.
Sunday August 20, we woke up around noon. After a super quick tour around the California State Capitol building, we kept on our way to Eugene. It's gonna be less than 24 hours until eclipse and we were only half way there. We kept driving and finally made it right after sunset. In Eugene, we met our old friend John. He owns a restaurant/bar in Eugene. We took a short break over there.
After midnight, we left John's place and on our way to our final destination-Santiam State Forest. Little did we know, the craziest part of this trip just started. Around 3 am, once we get close to Santiam State Forest, all of us lost our GPS signals. Some of the road became dirt roads. We drove into the forest like a headless chicken for more than 30 minutes, until I felt like fell into a rabbit hole and I said: "we should go back before it's too late". Everyone agreed so we drove back while our memory were still fresh but we just lost 1 hour precious time to find the best viewing point. I was frustrated and had to come up with a better plan. Once we were out of the forest, not only our GPS signals are restored we also saw how beautiful the stars were. Maybe because I lived in LA or maybe because it was a moonless night and in a pinch black forest, it was the most beautiful stars I have ever seen. I couldn't resist to walk out of car and took some photos.
After this short break, I felt a lot better and my friend also came up with a solid plan. He said he saw a peak on the GPS. If we keep climbing up, eventually we should be able find a high ground to view the eclipse. Since I don't have a better plan, we followed his lead and drove back to the forest again. After 60 minutes or so, we reached a point that our car can no longer go any further. "We need to ditch the car and climb that way," he pointed a very narrow road said. That's the moment, I doubted his judgement but I didn't say anything. What would I know? I don't know anything about this forest either. We walked about 10 minutes in the dark woods with our handicapped phones as flash light until I couldn't take it any more. I felt we were like idiots and wasting our precious time. I told them my plan which is going to Santiam State Forest lake there should be having an open area to see the eclipse. Without further argument, we headed to Santiam lake. By the time we found asphalt road, the sun was raising in the horizon. We were running out of time and also gasoline. We only had a little less than a quarter tank left and barely 4 hours to spare. Things were pretty rough but I haven't lost my hope yet. We still have time if we use it sufficiently. By the time we get close to the lake entrances we only got 3 hours left and a little less than 1/8 of the tank. I could almost taste the victory I thought, but my nightmare was far from over. We drove for another 45 minutes and this time we reached a dead end. Even though the GPS was pointing a way but there was no way left to drive. I was on the edge of breakdown. Our car is soon out of fuel and we only have a little over 2 hours until the eclipse. I was speechless when I saw there was no more road to the lake. We drove all night long in the stupid forest and couldn't find a good viewing point nor a gas station. I thought we were done, but my friends seem still optimism. He drove for another 30 minutes and found our "sanctuary". It's a little hill full of withered plants without any tall trees blocking the view. It was the perfect place. I couldn't be more happy.
Remember I said I brought a drone that was way over my head. Well, the drone almost cost me not having enough time to take the total eclipse. Since it was only my third time flying it and my friend's first time, we both are pretty noob about it. I tried to fly it just before the eclipse and take some cool aerial shots, but miss calculated the drone's viewing angle. Luckily I didn't crash landed it. Later on I found some issues with not able to remove the sd card out so I eventually returned the drone.
It was a hell of an experience I give you that. Be able to see the astronomical wonders all thanks to my good friends. A photo is worth a thousand words.