Bisti Eclipse
Today was the "Big Show": a total lunar eclipse during a full supermoon. And best of all, the lunar eclipse began as soon as the moon rose above the horizon. We didn't have to wait until 3:00 a.m. to start photographing the eclipse like I had to in April. On the other hand, we had to hike 1.5 miles into the Bisti Wilderness to the spot we wanted to shoot the eclipse. It's obviously much easier when you're shooting from the Explorer.
We relaxed during the day and recovered from yesterday's 6-mile hike to the Egg Factory areas. We timed our meals so we would eat just before we left for Bisti.
I was curious about how many photographers would shoot the eclipse at Bisti. There was only one other car in the main parking lot, plus two RVs of people camping there. The other parking lot just on the other side of the main wash had five or six more cars. I think that is the parking lot used by those hiking to the Wings Section. If I was more familiar with the area, The Wings would be great place to shoot the eclipse. The challenge is that it requires going between and over a series of small ridges. Trying to do that in the absolute dark after the eclipse wasn't something I was comfortable with. I'd want to see the route in the light first.
We arrived at Bisti about 5:45 and reached our shooting location about 6:30. The setting sun was bright and cast wonderful long shadows across the hoodoos. We had no problem finding things to photograph as we waited for the moon to make its appearance. At 7:06, a sunset-hued moon peeked over the rolling hills to the east. A small area on the left side of the moon was already missing as it cleared the horizon. In the earliest stages of the eclipse, the moon was almost a peach color at sunset but slowly progressed to a "blood moon" as it neared totality.
It was a great experience shooting the eclipse in such a desolate place. The formations near us were all bright white, while the hills in the background were red or black. Even in this completely desolate area, there were two women who were shooting on a hill just to our left and behind us. We also saw the headlamps of another group of photographers as they wound their way back from the Egg Factory.
When the eclipse
reached totality, the Milky Way slowly appeared across the sky directly above us. The night got eerily
still during totality. The stars shine brighter, and the moon is only a faint disc in the distance. Carol got some good shots of the Milky Way
over one of the formations near us.
By 9:30, we decided we had enough eclipse shots and started our hike back to the Explorer. Everyone else in our area left
when the eclipse reached totality, so we had the South Bisti Wash to ourselves. We kept looking back over our shoulders to watch the moon
as it filled in. By the time we reached the Explorer, the moon was full again.
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Our new GPS did very well and took us back to the gate and our parking lot without any missteps or detours.
It would be hard to get lost in the main wash, but you could do a lot of wandering around before you found the gate out of the
wilderness area. Some kind of power plant or factory with a lighted smoke stack lies in roughly the correct path back to the parking lot,
so that helped to confirm the right direction to hike.
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