Lassen Scenic Overlook

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Lassen National Forest

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Well, I decided to go see the annular eclipse. Is it worth it to drive out to an eclipse that won't be total for anyone because the moon is currently too far from the earth? There will be no shadow to watch rush toward one (as there was on Strawberry Peak in 2017) and no stark drop in temperature (only the people who already had their jacket weren't reaching for one) and no rush away again as the sun starts to reappear. On the other hand, there will be a transit. The moon will just touch one edge and then there will be a ring of light until the moon touches the other edge and drifts off again. It is best seen via a pinhole or filter.

Once I saw a partial eclipse in Kings Canyon National Park and the best bit were the pinhole like shadows dancing through the leafy trees. (The pines didn't do it, just the maples and oaks.) The cut out sun was repeated all through the shadows of these trees. To find a space of dappled shade and watch the annular eclipse, with the ring repeated over and over, shifting about as the breeze shakes the leaves, would be the best. Pinholes can be fun!

Oregon is again the obvious choice to see this second eclipse, at least until the weather was promising to cloud over the entire Oregon portion of the path, adding in dribble for the areas west of the Cascades. No to a spot just north of Crater Lake National Park. No to a spot out by Modoc National Forest, which I need to visit. It looked like I would have to go all the way to Utah to see it. In fact, I only got as far as a just north of a different National Park and I didn't find any cottonwoods to make my perfect viewing spot, but I did make it. And was it worth it? Dunno, but it got me out of the house.

0: clouds and peak
Clouds hugging snowy Mount Lassen.

I've always wondered what there was to see from this scenic overlook in Lassen. Now I know. If you follow the concrete path west to its end, then get right or left far enough into the bushes to see around the one tree right in the middle of the view, there's some mountains. Mount Lassen is the one that's covered in white stuff.





©2023 Valerie Norton
Written 19 Oct 2023

location: State Hwy 89/44, Old Station, CA 96071, USA

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