THE NORTH OLYMPIC Peninsula may not be in the path of totality for Monday’s solar eclipse, but the good folks at NASA say our area is close enough to witness an epic partial eclipse, with up to 90 percent of the sun hidden from view.
Hidden, that is, if viewers follow safety recommendations, wear proper eye protection and avoid looking directly at the sun with the naked eye.
The first point of contact will be at Lincoln Beach, Ore. at 9:05 a.m. Totality begins there at 10:16 a.m. Over the next hour and a half, it will cross through Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and North and South Carolina.
Campgrounds and motel rooms have been sold out for months in Oregon and traffic backups already have been reported in Central Oregon, owing to a week-long eclipse-related festival.
Head west
If you can’t get south and have the proper solar filters to glimpse the eclipse, here are some good viewing locations on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Hurrican Ridge’s southern exposure should provide ample sky for space-gazing crowds.
The only drawback to trekking up the Ridge Road will be paying the Olympic National Park entrance fee.
If clouds hold off out west, the Kloshe Nanitch Observation Site, a former fire lookout, will offer excellent southerly views, according to Quilcene’s Ward Norden, a former fisheries biologist and owner of Snapper Tackle Company.
“One is that extraordinary viewing deck built where the old fire lookout used to be on top of the ridge north of U.S. Highway 101,” Norden said. “Turnoff is near the Klahoya Campground.”
“The view from the deck is of the entire Sol Duc River drainage and for sunsets, it is hard to beat. There are a couple dry campsites there. If you haven’t been there, it is interesting.”
The former fire lookout was torn down a few years ago, but a viewing platform was installed.
Access is available via a hike, or by taking a vehicle with high-ground clearance and 4-wheel or all-wheel drive capabilities.
For directions and more information, visit tinyurl.com/PDN-KlosheNanitch.
Norden also mentioned heading off into the foothills off Blue Mountain Road near Port Angeles. And I’d bet Deer Park also would be another good spot.
Jefferson County sites
Norden will be taking in the sight on the east side of the Peninsula.
“I will be going to one of a couple outstanding overlooks on the back side of Mount Walker on the newly acquired Department of Natural Resource land off of Spencer Creek Road that leads to the new natural area around Devils Lake.
“The good news is that the road past Spencer Creek along the power lines was recently improved so it can be used by passenger cars with ease.”
Port Townsend eclipse-seekers can head to the hills above Discovery Bay for a good view.
“There are also a couple excellent overlooks above Natural Resources clear cuts above Snow Creek Road near Discovery Bay,” Norden said.
And the steep Mount Zion trail hike, a 4.6-mile roundtrip, “would be awesome for the ambitious hiker,” Norden said.
Coho a no-go
Norden said anglers should pass on fishing the Big Quilcene River, which opened for coho this week.
“There won’t be any significant coho migrants for another four weeks,” Norden said.
“The summer coho program at the federal hatchery [in Quilcene] has been effectively ended after the successful re-establishment in other rivers of those genetically unique coho.
“Since the Big Quilcene River has little habitat for summer coho below the hatchery, this particular run is over.
Fall coho should enter in about a month.
The successful recovery of summer chums carried out at this hatchery ended similarly about a dozen years ago. As an old broke-down fish biologist, I would hope the hatchery allows the dozen summer coho that have gotten lost and returned to continue on upstream to real coho spawning habitat where the genetics of this valuable strain will remain pure.”
Gibbs Lake closed
High levels of the toxin microcystin were detected in a water sample taken from Gibbs Lake on Monday and the lake is closed for fishing, boating and swimming.
Visitors are also urged to keep pets out of the water.
Microcystin is produced by bluegreen algae, also known as cyanobacteria, and can result in illnesses in people and animals.
Jefferson County Public Health has posted closure signs at lake access points. The rest of Gibbs Lake County Park remains open for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.
JCPH has monitored local lakes for bluegreen algae seasonally since 2007. Monthly monitoring of Anderson, Gibbs, and Leland lakes resumed in April. Anderson Lake closed in May due to high levels of Anatoxin-a, another toxin produced by cyanobacteria. No toxins were detected in samples taken from Lake Leland on Aug. 7.
