It was the celestial event of the century.  It was the sort of thing that caused the primitives to beat drums and sacrifice virgins.  It was the sort of thing that made birds fly upside down and cows crawl around like snakes.   It was…. THE MOTHER-IN-LAW  OF ALL TOTAL ECLIPSES!  The Mexican Government , expecting huge crowds, had everything prepared and organized (…?).  There were official rumors that there would be road blocks and anyone without confirmed reservations wouldn’t be allowed to pass and that special permits would be required for the purchase of gas etc.  People were warned away. And as a result the crowds never materialized!  In fact the highway was virtually empty except for the gas tankers brought in to service the expected increased demand and the Federal Highway Police, having nothing to do, racing around in packs trying to look necessary.

 

It’s about 1500 miles from Monterey California to the tip of Baja.

The Church at San Ignacio.  This is an amazing oasis and lake after hundreds of miles of desert.

The church at Santa Rosalia.  This was designed by Gustav  Eiffel, built in France and crated to this location.

Classic Eiffel curtain-wall construction.

Hypnotic ugliness?

Mulege Lagoon

Amazing forests of huge cactus (largest in the world) that extend from the mountain down to the sea.

Ingrid didn’t seem nearly as afraid of this as I was.

Scouting a good location for viewing. 

The Gulf of California.

On the beach at Cabo San Lucas.  The rock in the background is about 200 feet high and we saw sling and anchors on several obvious routes. 

The previous day we had scouted around and determined that the best viewing location was not on the  exact centerline of the shadow which was in a valley and crowded,  but about a mile north on a knoll from which you could see both the Pacific and the Gulf of California.  We set up there about 8 in the morning and were soon joined by some folks from Bolivia and Japan.  It was perfectly clear and about 100 degrees at mid-morning. The fellow on the left is a Mexican Highway Patrolman who was pretending to be in a radio silence area so he could watch the eclipse with us.  We shared a beer with him.

We jury-rigged a viewing screen 

Whoops!……false eclipse. 

 

The big event. 

 

  The entire 360 degree horizon  looked like this at totality.

Photograph taken through a large fisheye lens pointed straight up.  The eclipse is at the zenith and  in the center of the photo surrounded by stars.  Around the perimeter can be seen the 360 degree  sunrise/sunset and various people and equipment in silhouette.