Designer, builder, mediocre mountaineer.

Total Eclipse at Bull of the Woods

#outdoors 2017

44.885, -122.096

Sunset colors ringing the eclipse shadow, glowing on the slopes of Mt Hood. A bit off its left shoulder, Mt Adams peeks over the horizon.

Observed eclipse totality from the decommissioned Bull of the Woods Lookout tower during fire season.

Years later, remembering the horizon-spanning edge of light racing over smoky ridges to throw Mt Hood and Mt Jefferson into glowing orange spires still gives me chills.

The lookout itself was lost in a fire four years later. I climbed Mt Hood nine months after the eclipse.

Mt Jefferson’s horn rising above layers of blue ridges and valley haze in early morning lightPanorama from the lookout, smoky ridgelines in every direction and eclipse-watchers settled along the rocksMt Hood on the horizon.Smoke pooled in the valleys under a paling sky in the last minutes before totality.Totality. Corona flare around the moon above Mt Jefferson.Panorama from inside the moon’s shadow, near-night overhead and a band of orange twilight catching Mt Hood
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