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Citizen Astronomers Offer Live Broadcast of Eclipse From Stanley
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Saturday, August 19, 2017
 

STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The last time the United States experienced a total solar eclipse, Cindy Hamlin recalls, Sun Valley Resort offered free chairlift rides for people wanting to view the eclipse from the top of Baldy.

“People were more excited about the free chairlift rides than the eclipse!” the Hailey resident recalled of the February 1979 event, which only traversed a couple states, including Washington and Idaho.

What a difference 38 years makes!

Sun Valley Resort has sold 1,200 lift tickets for those wanting front-row seats to totality, along with a Bloody Mary brunch, BBQ and concert on top of the mountain. Perry’s Restaurant has rolled out an Eclipse Grab & Go menu featuring breakfast wraps, grilled chicken salad, and turkey lunch while Warfield Distillery and Sawtooth Brewery have concocted eclipse-themed beers.

Elkhorn Golf Resort is holding an Eclipse Brunch and Golf Scramble for its members. Busloads of teachers are bound for Baker Creek and Camp Perkins, where they plan to splash in the lake, in addition to watching the eclipse. Fly Sun Valley is offering tandem paragliding flights during the eclipse, and others have talked of a balloon festival between Warm Springs and points south.

And nearly all the banks in the valley, save Zions, are going to be closed after learning that law enforcement might be unable to respond quickly, should someone attempt a good old-fashioned stick-up.

Ketchum Chiropractor Maria Maricich told her clients she was closing the office on Monday “in respect of the unknown chaos that may occur during the eclipse.”

“I’m actually a little nervous about the people coming to town because no one knows what to expect,” said Scott Slonim, a technology teacher at Hemingway Elementary School.

On the other hand, the excitement is building for what Ketchum Mayor Nina Jonas has called “the 100-year Super Bowl of celestial phenomenon.”

Four hundred members of the American Astronomy Society have taken up temporary residence at Sun Valley Lodge and Inn.

“NOVA” plans to livestream coverage on its Facebook page from the town of Irwin near Idaho Falls, before broadcasting “Eclipse Over America” on Public TV that night.

And 200 members of Slooh, a Connecticut-based online observatory organization, are coming from as far away as the United Kingdom, Australia, and Thailand to train powerful telescopes on the sun from Elk Meadows Campground near Stanley.

Slooh will offer a live broadcast of the eclipse between 9:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. on www.slooh.com. The broadcasts are being made from Elk Meadows Campground and Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch’s new pavilion. They’re expected to provide about two minutes and nine seconds of totality, in addition to two hours and 40 minutes of the partial and total eclipse combined.

Slooh is democratizing access to outer space by providing free access to live telescope feeds and shows, said Slooh spokesperson Michelle Meskill. It will beam images from Stanley to The Weather Channel, ABC, BBC, CNN and Reddit. And photos may be captured and shared with the community.

For a small monthly membership fee, Slooh’s 80,000 members can make astronomical observations, just as professional astronomers do, using the same kind of equipment from some of the same observatory locations. Slooh has telescopes in Chile and the Canary Islands, as well as a giant mobile observatory that travels the world, streaming celestial events, such as potentially hazardous asteroids and comets  from such places as Indonesia, Kenya, Iceland, Australia and Kenya.

“The public has never before had the opportunity to do astronomy this way,” said Meskill.

Organizers drove the Path of Totality visiting science centers in Hartford, Conn.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Roanoke, Va.; Nashville, Tenn.; St. Louis, Mo., Salt Lake City and Boise enroute to Stanley. Here, they’ll take part in a three-day eclipse festival at Elk Meadows Campground that will include yoga, meditation, photography workshops and live reggae and blues.

Paul Cox, Slooh’s chief astronomical officer said he got just 12 seconds of totality when the 2013 solar eclipse peeked out from behind clouds in Kenya: “But it was the most profoundly moving experience I’ve ever had in my life.”

Some 30,000 campers headed to a solar eclipse festival east of Prineville, Ore., were reportedly backed up for 30 miles on Thursday. And the Oregon Department of Transportation has warned that the eclipse will lead to the biggest traffic event in Oregon history, with a million people expected to visit the state over this weekend.

Hotels from Boise to Caldwell are booked with eclipse watchers planning to head to Weiser, Garden Valley and Placerville. And Airbnb has announced that 8,000 Airbnb guests are coming to Idaho for the eclipse—the most it has ever for the Gem State.

That said, the presence of eclipse watchers in the Wood River Valley and Sawtooth Valley has so far been underwhelming, On Thursday the 105 porta-potties placed along the roadside and at trailheads from Ketchum to areas north of Stanley far outnumbered the number of visible campers.

Campgrounds still had openings. And Stanley—population 63—was pretty sleepy, although one person noted the grocery shelves were getting a little bare and food vendors who plan to fill the gap have asked cabin owners if they can tap into their water if they run out.

A family of five from Mammoth Lakes, Calif., joined three other eclipse campers hiking up to Horton Peak Lookout. Someone had staked a tent at the trailhead in preparation for a Monday morning climb to the top.

“We vacationed here before and loved it so this seemed like a good place to view the eclipse,” said one of them.

Eighty-five rangers went into the backcountry on Thursday, looking for abandoned campfires and reminding campers to dig holes for waste six to eight inches deep. Stage 1 Fire Restrictions have gone in effect for the City of Ketchum and points north. That means no unattended fire campfire or stove fire outside a concrete or steel fire ring with a spark arrestor. No smoking, either, except within an enclosed vehicle, building or designated recreation site.

Officials have erected signs designating eclipse viewing spots north of Ketchum. They’ve also mowed grass along certain roads, such as Valley Road across from Smiley Creek, cordoning off parking spots.

Chris Corwin, Blaine County’s disaster services coordinator, cautioned those driving north to take enough water and food for dogs and people should they be stuck in traffic. Corwin said he had hoped to bolster cell phone coverage in the area during the eclipse but was unable to secure the necessary infrastructure.

“Don’t count on the GPS in your phone. Take paper maps, instead,” he said. “And take plenty of cash, in case you can’t process transactions with your credit cards.”

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