Total Lunar Eclipse 2024
April 6 - 9, 2024

2024 Total Solar Eclipse Trip

    Months prior to the trip I looked at booking a place to stay in the Adirondacks inside the path of the total eclipse. Most were booked solid and what was available was going well over $750/night.

    We decided to stay at the Quality Inn Lake George. They had good rates for the off season and required a two-night minimum. We would need to travel an hour to see the total eclipse. Our plan was to check-in Saturday and spend Sunday around Lake George. On Monday we would check out early to drive north for the eclipse. I wanted to maximize the length of totality by viewing from the center of the shadow. A great spot would be the Paul Smith's College--Visitor Interpretive Center, just north of Saranac Lake. After the eclipse we would drive back home that day. Plans were changed for the drive back thanks to a suggestion by our friend Mark.  We all decided to stay in Lake George another night. This was a great decision as the traffic both going to and from the eclipse was expected to be horrendous – and it was.

    After checking into the hotel on Saturday, we got to see our nephew play in a charity ice hockey event in Queensbury, then had a good dinner at the Adirondack Pub & Brewery in Lake George.

    I enjoyed an Adirondack Brewery beer flight of: Ryan’s Irish Red, Lake George Cider Project, Imperial Mocha Coffee Stout and a Peanut Butter Porter. And yes, it had a peanut butter flavor to it.

    On Sunday April 7 we had breakfast at the Silo Restaurant & Gift Shop in Queensbury. It is right off I-87 and we planned to eat here again when we travel by.  Their paper placemats describe the different types of Barns. The gift shop was large and interesting.

    We birded and explored the Lake George area. At Lake George Beach State Park, we found Hooded Mergansers, Pine Siskins and Dark-eyed Juncos. We explored both the east and west sides of the lake, then to Bolton Conservation Park where we added Ring-necked Duck and Red-breasted Nuthatch. Surprisingly the Red-breasted Nuthatch was a year-bird, since they were absent this winter in southern New York. Another sign of climate change.

    Dinner was at the Ambrosia Diner in Queensbury.

    On Monday we were up early to beat the traffic. After a good free breakfast at the hotel and adding another night at the front desk we were on our way.  Traffic on I-87 going north had a lot of vehicles on it for 7 AM, but it moved well.

    As we passed Keene Valley, we noticed that the grassy local airport was set up to handle loads of eclipse watchers. This will factor in as we head back to Lake George later in the day.

    We stopped at Stewarts in Keene on Route 73 to regroup with Mark and get sandwiches for lunch later.

    We arrived at Paul Smith's College--Visitor Interpretive Center just after 10 AM. They were prepared for overflow crowds, expecting to have people park out on the road when the lots filled up. Surprisingly this never happened! It turned out that most people just traveled far enough north and off the highway to see the eclipse and did not go further like us. The visitor center was renting chairs and we grabbed three. The trails still had some snow on them. Mark took a walk on the trails, as Kelli and I enjoyed the feeders at the center. We had Purple Finch, Pine Siskins and a Fox Sparrow.

    We had a long wait, but it was fine to just sit out and enjoy the weather and the Adirondack scenery. We decided to see the eclipse near our cars in the parking lot. We would be away from the small crowd, and we were sure no trees would be in the way. We ate lunch and talked till the eclipse started at 2:15 PM.

    We had cardboard eclipse glasses as well as solar binoculars (which gave close views of the eclipse before totality). As we neared totality the light grew oddly diffuse and yellow.

    Totality started at 3:25 PM. It only got so-so dark, not black out dark, after totality began. We were WOWED! It was spectacular. My 300mm lens captured it well and we could see two reddish solar flares poking out with our regular binoculars or through my scope.

    Totality lasted 2-3 minutes. An American Woodcock flew by while we watched it. We heard a Barred Owl later.

    It was amazing how fast it got bright out when just a sliver of sun poked out past totality. 

    We knew traffic could be bad and decided to bird in the area then stop for dinner at Saranac Lake. Nearby Bloomingdale Bog Trail had Gray Jays and Black-capped Chickadees coming in to feed on raisins and peanuts. We also had better looks at Purple Finch and Pine Siskins.

    It was hard to find an open restaurant in Saranac, so we ended up in Ray Brook at the Ray Brook Brewhouse. This was a nice find.

    It was after 7 PM and thought that the traffic would be gone. It looked that way as we saw no traffic to Lake Placid and afterwards for 10 miles on Route 73. Then it stopped dead 3 miles out of Keene.

    It crawled along slowly. Our GPS indicated to save 23 minutes to go around Keene Valley, a 24-mile detour! The detour worked and we ended back on Route 73 in the traffic, but only 1 mile to I-87.

    I-87 was a parking lot. It would move slowly for a half a mile, then stop again. We got off at the next exit to travel Route 9, through the small towns, all the way down to Lake George.  This moved better. Any type of gas station, store or rest area was a mad house. People were parking cars any place that would fit along with long lines in. We were smart making sure to gas up the day before and hit the bathrooms before getting in the car. Kelli and I tried another detour off Route 9. We were on roads that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. It still took us over 3 hours to get back to the hotel at 11:30 PM.

    It was an easy drive back home the next morning.

    We hope you enjoyed our trip report and pictures.

To read more of Kelli and Mike’s Trip reports visit: http://www.bochnik.com

Comments: E-mail Michael at bochnikm@cs.com