Totality: Backpacking to the Eclipse

The adventure began as a long shot.My friend called me as he was entering the Wyoming wilderness, about to lose reception. Before the line cut out, he described to me where he was headed. A group of my friends were gathering in Wyoming, deep in the spectacular granite mountains, to watch the eclipse.The eclipse, in it's totality, would be passing directly overhead. This was going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the full eclipse in such a beautiful location.I hopped in my car and drove the fifteen hours to the trailhead, then proceeded to hike the thirteen miles back to where I hoped to find my friends. My friends, however, were off the trail. And I wasn't entirely sure I would find them. My whole drive out there, I was wondering if I was being stupid. This should have required a bit of planning. But I was going all the way to Wyoming, just kind of hoping it would all work out.By the time I made to the end of the trail, I had hiked 11 miles. But I still had another two miles to go, without a trail, up and over a mountain pass and down into the next valley. I crested the pass at dusk. I could see a few headlamps shining in the night throughout the valley. It was impossible to tell who was who. I shouted at the top of my lungs, but heard no response. I took out my headlamp and shined it towards several groups, making it blink like morse code. One of the groups blinked back.I hope that's them! I thought. And I hope it wasn't some random group playing games and shining back just for fun.The party was camped across a river, which I crossed tentatively in the darkness. After a very long day, I stumbled into their camp. I must've had some luck on my side, because it was actually my friends, sitting around a roaring campfire. Much to my delight, they erupted in glee at my arrival. I had actually surprised them. They were unaware that it was me who was signaling them with my headlamp. They were just playing around! But it all worked out beautifully.We had an extra day before the eclipse. So the next morning we got up early and went several miles up the valley to climb one of the nice pointy granite peaks. It was a little hairy in spots, but it was just the right amount of difficulty for a good adventure. The view from the top was incredible.The next day, as the moon just began to pass in front of the sun, our group hiked to a hilltop to soak in the experience. We had incredible views all around us. This was quite the location to watch this phenomenon.As the eclipse progressed, I was surprised by how bright the day remained with so much of the sun obscured. With even 80-90 percent coverage, the daylight looked almost normal. But in the last few minutes leading up to totality, things really began to change in a dramatic way. The light seemed to change temperatures, taking on the pale blue quality of moonlight. Even with as little as one percent of the sun showing, the valley surround us was surprisingly illuminated.And then, finally, totality.Everything went dark. It was eerie. It was beautiful. And more than anything, it was just strange. I have never seen anything quite like it.Our group instinctively began to howl and holler. As if some animal impulse inside us dictated this behavior. It was wild. I felt wild. I felt dramatically alive and full.In what seemed like just a few moments later, the sun began to peek out from the other side of the moon, and the valley filled with light once again. Quickly the valley returned to its normal way of life. In a matter of minutes, it was as if nothing had happened at all.It was a lot effort to have this experience. But I think sometimes we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zones, to choose to do something that doesn't fall in your lap, to get more out of life. This was an experience I won't forget.