Tall Peak And Great North American Eclipse 2024

BOU AVENUE
Tall Peak And Great North American Eclipse 2024

On 8 April 2024, Zosia Zgolak and I witnessed a total solar eclipse from the summit of Tall Peak located near the east end of Porter Mountain in Arkansas's Ouachita National Forest. After abandoning plans to view the eclipse in Texas due to unreliable weather, I had chosen Tall Peak as our eclipse-viewing site for a number of reasons. Firstly, Tall Peak was located near the path of maximum totality. Secondly, the weather forecast promised clear skies in the area on eclipse day. Thirdly, there are no access or camping restrictions here (ie. no reservations required) since it is a National Forest. Finally, I hoped that the gravel forestry road access (still suitable for 2WD vehicles) and the moderately strenuous hike required to reach the summit would discourage a lot of people from coming here resulting in hopefully less congestion. Even then, we decided to avoid risking traffic jams by driving to the trailhead (34.38850, -94.01344) the evening before. Not surprisingly, there were already multiple vehicles parked there when we arrived, and we were lucky to grab a half-decent spot to camp for the night.

With a lot of extra time on our hands in the morning (the eclipse would not begin until about 12:30 PM CDT), Zosia and I opted to take a more roundabout route to the top of Tall Peak. The most direct route is the fire lookout road which begins at the trailhead, but the summit can also be accessed via a separate trail which starts from the Shady Lake campground to the south. Rather than start from the campground though, we simply walked down the forestry road from where we parked for about 1.9 kilometres before abandoning it to cut through some light bush near a drainage. Fortuitously, we stumbled onto a good trail on the other side of the drainage, and this led us up to an intersection with the main trail coming from the campground. Turning right, we followed the main trail which winds up a forested ridge and eventually pops out onto the fire lookout road just below the summit of Tall Peak. We enjoyed the pleasant hike up the trail, but as we approached the top, the sky was disconcertingly becoming more cloudy. This was contrary to what had been promised in the weather forecast, but at this point, there was really nothing we could do but hope that the sky would clear up in time for the eclipse. A lot of people were already milling about the summit area when we arrived at around 11:00 AM CDT, but we still found a nice spot to hunker down beside the abandoned fire lookout.

As we waited for the eclipse to start, Zosia and I ate some snacks and amused ourselves with people-watching. Once the eclipse began, we moved away from the shadow of the fire lookout and found a patch of grass where we could lie down on our backs and look skyward comfortably with our eclipse glasses. This was my third time (and Zosia's first) viewing a total solar eclipse, and I am always amazed at how quickly time flies during the event. Despite occasional uplifting sunny breaks, there was much anxiety among the crowd on the summit as clouds persisted in front of the sun almost right up until the start of totality. To everyone's relief, when totality finally arrived, the clouds disappeared seemingly by magic, and we were treated to a heavenly show featuring the sun's corona and several reddish solar prominences. I have heard testimony from previous eclipse observers who exclaim about cloud cover parting miraculously just before totality, and although I did not clue in until my friend Bob Parr mentioned it to me a couple of days later, there is some scientific merit to the phenomenon. Of the three solar eclipses that I have witnessed, this one had the longest period of totality--4 minutes 18 seconds, but just like the previous ones, the few precious minutes seemed to go by in a flash. Inevitably, the sun emerged again from behind the moon, and daylight resumed over Tall Peak.

Like most others once totality ended, Zosia and I gathered our belongings and departed the summit. We easily walked out along the fire lookout road and completed a loop upon reaching the trailhead. Surprisingly, we had no significant issues driving out the forestry road and were soon on the highway heading for Houston, Texas where I had already booked us a hotel for the night. This turned out to be a long drive with some tense moments going through some terrific rain storms, but we ultimately arrived at our hotel safe and sound.

	This is where Zosia and Sonny slept the previous night in their rental car. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia descends the forestry road. The top of Tall Peak is visible in the distance between the trees.
	Zosia carefully crosses an inundated section of the forestry road.
	The crested iris is commonly found throughout this area.
	Sonny tightens his boot laces after intersecting the trail from Shady Lake campground. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	The top of Tall Peak can be seen through the trees at right.
	A break in the forest below the top of Tall Peak grants some far-reaching views.
	Zosia arrives at an abandoned fire lookout on the summit of Tall Peak (716 metres).
	The top of Tall Peak is already a busy place well before the start of the total solar eclipse. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia and Sonny are ready to view the total solar eclipse.
	The moon begins to cover the sun.
	Zosia lies on her back to comfortably watch the solar eclipse.
	The moon steadily covers more of the sun.
	Clouds nearly obscure the eclipse in this unfiltered view minutes before totality.
	Totality starts at 1:47 PM CDT. The bright object at bottom right is the planet Venus. Check out a video of this exhilarating moment.
	Zosia and the rest of the people atop Tall Peak marvel at the total solar eclipse.
	Taken by Allan Leparskas, near Candyville, Ontario, 8 Apr. 2024 Published with permission by Henry Leparskas
	Totality ends at 1:51 PM CDT (lasted 4 minutes 18 seconds).
	Zosia hikes out along a fire lookout road.
	Total Distance: ~9.2 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 6 hours 35 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 325 metres GPX Data