Unfortunately for me, my camera was on the fritz and out for repair, so all I had with me was my phone for this trip.
I drove down to Raleigh mid August to meet up with a couple friends and experience the solar eclipse in Appalachia. After doing some research, we found a remote looking fire tower on top of a mountain in the Nantahala National Forest, adjacent to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, that seemed like a great place to view the eclipse from. Three of us piled into the van and headed out from Raleigh, with the intention of hiking out, spending the night at the fire tower, and experiencing the eclipse the following afternoon.
Jon at sunset
Our fire tower turned out to be less empty than we had hoped, but we managed to snag a good campsite. After a dinner of beans and baked sweet potatoes, we hung out under an incredibly starry night until people started falling asleep. The next morning, we staked out our viewing spots and people started trickling onto our mountaintop.
Waiting for the eclipse to begin
The skies were really overcast when the eclipse started, but they opened up a little for totality. Totality itself was a moving experience, and sharing it with so many other people was incredible. Not something I’ll forget anytime soon.
The sky got darker as I took the panorama, hence the gradient.
The best shot I could get with an iPhone and a welding mask
After the eclipse, we spent a day checking Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We did a short hike up to Clingmans Dome and then wandered along the AT for a bit before heading back to the van, the campsite, where we cooked up a fantastic falafel dinner.
