Gros Ventre Wilderness, Wyoming

2017.08.21

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When I first read about the total solar eclipse (so many moons in the future), I knew instantly I would be there.  I fretted the rapidly approaching date, the momentum carrying half of America toward an event that I wanted (*needed*) to feel personal.  I was desperate for a turning point, and this massively hyped, monumental cosmic event seemed like maybe it could deliver.  Hoping for meditative solitude, we chose a remote location in Wyoming, and then, well, crossed all our fingers.

 

The area was desolate, the approach was achingly slow, my pack objectionably burdensome... but when the sun finally slipped behind the moon and twinkled into a quivering, transcendental ring, I cried.  A far off "Whoop!" sliced across the vacant tundra, and I knew I wasn't alone in the dark.  I had yearned for solitude, but it was our shared humanity that brought me to my knees.  A new beginning, found.  And when the dimness lifted, I lay back in a field of brilliantly-colored wildflowers and laughed.

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Next up:  April 8, 2024

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