Epic trip to Rangely Maine for the Eclipse

Apr 8, 2024

5 min read

April 8, 2024, 2:00 PM - Connecticut to Little Sebago Lake, north of Portland, Maine then a mountain ride to Mount Washington across the Kancamagus Highway over a weekend with an Epic total Solar Eclipse in Rangeley, Maine by Charles Rankin

Introduction

I got the instant message from Jamie on February 27, 2024. "Hey do you want to go to see the total Eclipse in Maine on April 8th?". This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I have only seen an eclipse in movies and video games. I texted back "Yes and will see you then. " The next few months was a lot of trying to find glasses for the eclipse and also to make travel plans from Connecticut. I asked if anyone wanted to go for the adventure, and as I couldn't really confirm if we were going to be in a hotel and we may be sleeping in my Xterra in a sleeping bag, it was a solo adventure to meet up with Jamie.

A few days before the eclipse we had a blizzard in Connecticut and then an earthquake and soon the eclipse! A great beginning to this adventure. A week or earlier Jamie instant messaged me that he wanted to go north from his house on the lake north of Portland to see the full eclipse. "I want to go north to get into 100 % of the eclipse."

We decided to make a weekend of the trip, and I would drive the 5 hours or so to meet him at his place on Little Sebago and then we would do some traveling and exploring on the April 7th and then on April 8th we would head north to see the Eclipse.

I drove up on the 7th, after digging out of a blizzard we had got which was rare for early April and it was snow all the way to Maine. My trusty 2007 Nissan Xterra did great and a good ride up with some great views of the snow in the early spring of April. I met up with Jamie that afternoon and we decided to do some traveling up in the mountain areas of northern Maine and head into New Hampshire to see Mount Washington while were up in the area. We swapped over to Jamie's 2020 Jeep Renegade which was about 15 years newer than my Xterra and headed north to Mount Washington.

The trip took us across the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire which was great to see in mountains and the raging river. We then made it to Mount Washington in the afternoon with the intent to hike it or at least drive up it with the Jeep. We found out the roads were closed and we also did not have time to do the hike and Wildcat Mountain on the way back for a great burger and a beer. And then back to Portland, Maine to get ready for the Eclipse.

The next morning after a good night's sleep we got up early and got some good breakfast at a local place and as I was driving some good coffee. We loaded up the Jeep with good snacks and some jackets and off-road gear just in case as heavy snow in some parts. So, this was one of first really epic trips so we really didn't know where to go other than we wanted to be in the area of the map where we can get the total eclipse. I came across a banner for a Eclipse festival in Rangeley, Maine so we locked Rangeley into the iPhone map and off we went.

I have only really been in the Acadia part of Maine and never in the mountains and Northern Maine. The mountains were incredible and more so with the fresh snow. Rangely is a small town in the mountains with legendary fishing, pristine wilderness, and is surrounded by six lakes and the western Maine mountains. In the summer Rangeley has around 6,500 residents and mostly tourists and in the winter and early spring around 1,200. 20,000 people came to Rangeley for the Eclipse which we did not know until after the event and a few weeks later. As we started approaching the mountains, we started seeing cars along both sides of the road miles from any town, lined up with chairs and people starting to setup for hours to be ready for the eclipse. As we made it into the town of Rangeley all the bars, restaurants, and most streets were full and little to no parking and we really were looking for a remote area with a great view of the sky. We were an hour or so before the eclipse and drove around and down some side roads and along the lake looking for a good spot. We finally found a perfect place to watch the eclipse. A large open field with the back to a mountain and when we first parked only a few cars. As we are not really photographers and definitely not videographers, we setup with what we had with 2 iPhones and a new iPad. I had my iPhone 13 Pro Max which was gifted to me for Christmas. And we were also do not look at the eclipse as you will go blind and do not take pictures of the eclipse with your iPhone as you will burn out the lens.

It was epic. It was a sunny afternoon with a blue sky and in over an hour or so we watched as the moon eclipsed into the sun and that field and trees and mountain became dark as night and we could see stars. You will see my pictures are me trying to take pictures with a lens cover and then the iPhone itself. I got a 3-minute video of the eclipse but did not shoot the eclipse directly from the iPad but the field and mountains where you can see the sunny day to the dark night and then back to the sunny day. A good watch with a lot of yelling and clapping and fireworks. For the last few minutes, I did look directly into the Eclipse, and it was Epic.