Sunday 20th May
Today we were up at 6am to be at the Wahreap Marina for the
Rainbow Bridge Cruise. Its 50 miles each
way out to the Rainbow Bridge cruising through magnificent canyons, mesas and
buttes. We had a ¼ mile walk to reach
Rainbow Bridge.
Photos abound.......
The Camel!
Fred Flinstone's RV!
We arrived back at the Resort by 1pm, exhausted after the
long steep walk from the jetty.
Our goal was to head straight out to Horseshoe Bend around 2pm to
take photos while the sun was overhead, however it was hot and we were
tired. So back at the motel, Nev
prepared the 2 shoe boxes for viewing the solar annular eclipse and eventually
headed off around 3.30pm. Page was one
of the best places to view the eclipse – I doubt there was a spare bed in town.
After some deliberation, we decided to make Horseshoe Bend
our viewing position. Geared up with water, hats and correct footwear we
trekked the ½ mile to the edge of the canyon, leaving viewing boxes in the car
until required. We were two hours early
but already there were dozens of people
set up precariously on the edge of the canyon and tripods even closer. Too close for me. 
This guys was taking automated shots every 60 seconds and is going to make a movie of the event
Serious equipment
We took our photos as
best we dared and sought out some shade under rocks with a group of guys. Slowly our group number grew, a lady with two
kids – turned out she is an Astronomer who runs tours around the world chasing
eclipses – another couple studying computer science; another couple who kindly
handed out eclipse viewing glasses. We
are staying put now – those pin hole boxes can stay in the car. 
The astronomer lady was great, she gave us great insight on
eclipses and we were all geared up so it was just a matter of waiting. We all chatted constantly, sharing each other’s
travels and interests. Soon enough the eclipse began and we watched the crescent
s take shape in the shadows, watched how the shadows became sharper and elongated.
The small crescents in the shadows
Nev managed to capture the eclipse on video taken through the eclipse glasses. Amazing! We watched the black moon sit right in front
of the sun encircled by a silver glow. A
cheer went up from the 500 plus crowd of enthusiasts. The strange glow on the beautiful Arizona
landscape was surreal. What a sight and
what a feeling – we are such small creatures in the scheme of things.
We decided not to wait around for the sunset as we certainly
didn’t have the camera equipment to take advantage of the colours. Plus I figured it would take some time to
climb back up that hill in deep fin sand.
We parted ways with our new found friends wishing all safe travels on their
long journeys going forward. How easy it
is to sit around and chat with strangers in America. As we head off we took a photo of our elongated shadow.
Back to our motel for a rest before heading out for a
delicious Mexican meal in an superbly decorated restaurant downtown. We are exhausted. A very long and amazing day.
No comments:
Post a Comment