Like many people around the US, I got to witness the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse in Western PA. It was something I had been planning to see since the last one that came around the area in 2017.

However, this time I wasn’t going to see it from my hometown. I was going to make the trip to be in the path of totality.

For almost seven years, I waited for the day to come. I had my calendar mark for April 2024 but I had another one to see before that date.

Witnessing the partial eclipse on June 10, 2021, made me even more excited. While the 2021 eclipse was happening at sunrise and only being around  71.74% covered. The event was something else and I couldn’t wait for the next one. I just knew I had to find my way out there, in the path of totality.

I really started to plan for this trip in the summer of 2023. I wanted to travel to Utah for the Oct 2023 Annular Eclipse to witness that and get some practice in for the April 2024 one.

Unfortunately, I didn’t want to fly and rent a car and I didn’t trust my car to get me there and back. Besides, I would have to spend 2 plus days driving out and 2 days back and only would have spent one day photographing the event. I would just have to make this one count.

I should have booked a hotel back in October but I waited. When I checked prices for hotels in Erie, PA in January the prices were already too high for my liking. I decided to book a campsite in Lyman Run State Park.

Coverage here was going to be around 98.51% and I originally decided that would be good enough. It didn’t take me long to figure that, that was not going to be good enough for me. So I decided to start looking around for large parking lots in Erie to set up in.

The drive from Lyman Run to Erie was just about 3 hours and very doable for me. I figured I would leave in the morning on the 8th, drive out to a Walmart parking lot and watch the Eclipse and drive back to Lyman run after the event was over.

I stuck with this plan for about two weeks until I came across two different articles. One was about how bad the Traffic was leaving the total eclipse in South Carolina in 2017. The other was an article about four PA state parks that were in the path of totality.

I quickly got on the web and booked Sunday and Monday in Pymatuning State Park in Western PA. Here, I would witness Totality for 2 minutes and 43 seconds. It would be about a minute shorter than up in Erie but I would still get to witness something very few people get to witness in their lifetime.  

By the end of February I added an extra day to my Lyman Run stay. I would now be leaving on Friday and not coming back till Tuesday. It was going to be a trip of a lifetime for my daughter and I. Now just to prepare and pray for clear skies.

Every week I would look at the long range forecast for both campgrounds I would be staying at. I knew I couldn’t go off of what I was seeing but I could maybe, hopefully, get an idea of what I might be dealing with. As of the middle of March it wasn’t looking too bad. Forecast was calling for rain/snow on Friday and Saturday morning but clear the rest of the weekend.

Maybe a little cloudy but overall not too bad. About two days before we left it was still pretty much the same but much colder. It was going to be in the low 40’s in Lyman Run and mid 50’s on Monday in Pymatuning.

The chance for more clouds also increased for Monday but the car was packed and we only had a day till we left. Even if the clouds ruined the show, I knew that for 2 minutes and 43 seconds the sky would still get dark no matter what. That was the only guarantee I had. I was going to make the trip no matter what.

Friday 4/5

We left early Friday morning and started heading towards the PA Wilds. First stop was breakfast and gas then off to visit Ravensburg State Park near Jersey Shore PA. Now I was expecting some snow overnight in Potter County. I was not expecting snow while driving up there.

Ravensburg State Park is on the smaller size coming in at only 78 acres. However, don’t let that fool you. The scenery surrounding it is beautiful. It makes the perfect backdrop for an afternoon picnic or a short little hike through the park.

From here we headed up to Upper Pine Bottom State Park. This is another small state park but has a lot packed in such a small area. This park just might be the highlight of Friday’s trip. The rushing creek was calming and I would love to come back and visit in the fall.

From here we continued on through sections of the Tiadaghton State Forest on our way to Little Pine State Park. The park was much bigger than the last two. The lake itself is 45 acres and the park comes in at 2,158 acres. There is plenty to see and do from hiking, fishing, hunting, boating, picnicking, and even swimming in the warmer months. This is another park I’d like to come back and visit in the fall.

From here we headed through the Tioga State Forest to Leonard Harrison State Park and Colton Point State Park. Both of these state parks overlook the Pine Creek Gorge also known as the PA Grand Canyon. Both have amazing overlooks of the canyon below. However, I think the overlooks at Colton Point are much better.

Leonard Harrison State Park is currently updating the Visitor Center but it looks to be done soon (like sometime in 2024). It is definitely worth a visit even without the visitor center being finished. Colton Point State Park is just a short drive around the canyon and is well worth the drive. Both of these parks are on my list to stop at each time I am traveling nearby.

From here we were off to fill up the tank with gas in Coudersport, PA. It was past our final destination but was one of our last chances to get a good signal with our phones. Many of the areas out in the PA Wilds have weak to no cell phone coverage. It is a good idea to print some maps out in case you get lost or your map app stops working.

After getting gas it was time to set up camp at Lyman Run State Park. Lyman Run is one of my favorite places to go camping at. The campground is a decent size and the restrooms are always nice and clean. Plus the night sky here is simply amazing and most of the other campers keep their lights off or down low so they don’t hurt the view of the sky above.

We arrived at the campsite a little after 3pm and started to set up camp. I was not able to locate any firewood on my way to the site. A couple of the places I usually pick my wood up at didn’t have any out yet. I guess it must be too early in the season for most of them to start selling it or they were keeping it for themselves to heat their homes with. Either way I had to find some in the surrounding woods.

I did find plenty of wood around our campsite. The bad thing was all the wood was soaking wet. I tried to get a fire going but had little success. The wood was just too wet to get going and to keep going.

It really sucked, I must say. Having a fire would have been nice since it was so cold out. The temp was around 39 and night was quickly falling upon us. There was even a chance for snow overnight.

As the sky grew darker the clouds picked up too. There was no chance we would be getting a star filled sky tonight. Instead it was completely cloudy and we even got some snowflakes flying around.

We decided to sleep in the car tonight since it was so windy out and we could have the heat going. Surprisingly, we both had a decent night of rest. However, there was a little snow on the tent and in the surrounding woods.

Saturday 4/6

Before breakfast we headed up to Cherry Springs State Park to get a good signal and check out what we missed from the night before. While driving up the mountain, I noticed that the higher we got, the more snow was all around. It was a beautiful sight to see.

This was one thing I did want to witness. I just wasn’t expecting it in early April. Either way I wasn’t going to let it ruin my day. We had a fun morning planned out.

We got back to the campsite and had breakfast and decided to check out Lyman Lake before heading to some of the surrounding state parks in the area. The lake was packed with people this morning. It was the opening day of trout season, so I shouldn’t have been so surprised. 

There were fishermen standing shoulder to shoulder along the shoreline and about a dozen or more boats in the lake. It did make me wish that I had brought our fishing gear with us. Maybe next year I will.

We left Lyman Run and headed southwest towards Sinnemahoning State Park. Sinnemahoning State Park is a massive park in the PA Wilds that covers 1,910 acres and is surrounded by the Elk and Susquehannock State Forests. They also have a very nice visitor center where you can learn a ton about the surrounding area and wildlife.

If you are lucky, you might even be able to see some elk roaming the area. We didn’t have any luck this time seeing elk but we will be back around. Maybe this fall I will take another trip to this state park.

The next stop was to Austin Dam Memorial Park. This place has been on my list of places to visit for the past couple of years. I just haven’t gotten here till now.

I will say that it was worth the quick stop. It’s pretty amazing to see and makes you think. I was wondering what the area would have looked like when the dam was intact.

After visiting the dam we headed to the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum. We have been here before but it is a really cool place to visit and it doesn’t cost much to visit. There really is a lot to see here.

Plus you can learn about the lumber industry in Pennsylvania. Both past and present. It is well worth the stop when visiting the area.

Since it was already early in the afternoon, we headed back to the campsite for lunch and to relax. Since the sky was getting clearer and I knew the forecast was calling for a clear sky overnight I decided to get my camera and star tracker set up for the night.

Sunset was around 1945 and it didn’t truly get dark till a little after 9 but once it did, boy what a show. The sky was so crisp and clear. It was cold sitting out under the stars but well worth it.

I do need more practice with my astrophotography but I was pretty happy with the results. This is one of my favorite things to do out here. Just looking up at the star filled sky above. I just can’t get a view like this back home. I ended up staying up till a little after midnight.

Sunday 4/7

In the morning we got up and packed up the campsite. We were heading out to Pymatuning State Park to camp and watch the solar eclipse in a day.
The drive from Lyman Run to Pymatuning would take close to four hours to make. But first we had a couple of stops to make. First stop was gas and breakfast at Sheetz in Coudersport.

I do need to remember that the breakfast at Sheetz is not very good. Wawa is so much better. I really don’t understand how people can honestly say Sheetz is better than Wawa. There is no way.

Anyway, from Coudersport we headed towards Kinzua Bridge State Park. This is another one of our favorite state parks to visit. The views of the surrounding forest from the overlook on the old railroad bridge is amazing.

Just be mindful if you are scared of heights this might not be an overlook for you. It can get quite windy up there but the views are breathtaking. Just don’t go so close to the edge. That’s what I do.

After visiting Kinzua, it was time to drive through the Allegheny National Forest and make a stop at Rimrock Overlook along route 59. This was another place that I have been wanting to visit for the last couple of years.

While it wasn’t as spectacular as I was hoping (it wasn’t fall), I will be back to see it again. The view was still amazing and I can picture how beautiful it will be in the fall and even in the winter after a fresh snowfall.

The next couple of hours were just full of driving. This area of PA reminded me of the Lancaster area. Lots of rural roads and farms. There were even a bunch of Amish that we drove by. But these amish seemed to be much friendlier than the ones in Lancaster.

Every single one we drove by, smiled, and waved at us. It didn’t matter if they were in a horse and buggy, walking, or on a bike.

We finally arrived at Pymatuning State Park Jamestown Campground around 1430. Check in normally isn’t until 3 but we were able to check in early. By the time we got to our campsite there had to be about 20 other campers setting up at the time.

It was still early but every single campsite was booked for Sunday night. Within a couple of hours this place would be really full. By the time sunset hit around 90% of the sites were filled up.

I can only assume that the sites that didn’t have people on them decided to go somewhere else for the eclipse tomorrow or just stayed home. The weather for tomorrow wasn’t looking too promising.

Today was perfect. Very few clouds in the sky and it wasn’t even windy. The temp was pretty nice too. It was just too bad that a storm was coming in from the west and it looked like it would rain most of the morning tomorrow and the clouds would be hanging around afterwards.

Once the sun set I was thinking about getting some night sky photos done. I ended up deciding not to for two different reasons. Reason one , I wanted to save the space on my SD card. Reason two, while the sky was much darker than back home, it wasn’t that dark plus all the lights from other campers would have hurt my results.

On the plus side, I was able to find some dry firewood around the campground. While it wasn’t a big fire, we had a good time sitting around it roasting some marshmallows.

Monday (Eclipse Day) 4/8

Waking up this morning, I was very eager to see how the weather would be. It was still dark out but within the hour the sun should start peaking up and brighten the sky. It turned out to be a beautiful sunrise, but sadly it was very cloudy.

About an hour after sunrise we took a quick trip down to the local gas station to fill up the tank. I figured we would probably leave a little after the eclipse and take the six hour journey home tonight instead of tomorrow. We were both enjoying the weekend but we were both ready to go home as well.

Now, for the most part, everything on this trip was going pretty well. That was all about to change. On the way back to the campground I noticed my check engine light was on. The car was driving well but the light was on.

At this time it also started to rain. It wasn’t a heavy rain, more of a drizzle but it was raining nonetheless. Once back at the site I shut off the car and started it back up again after a couple of minutes. This time I noticed a light bit of a “shake” as I started the car.

Once I gave her a little gas, the shake stopped, but the check engine light was  still on. I figured it was probably my spark plugs due to a misfire, but I wasn’t 100% sure. That would have to be a problem for later on in the day.

Now the rain didn’t last long and soon enough it stopped and I decided to breakdown the tent and pack the car up for the ride home after the eclipse. It wasn’t even 930 yet but I wanted to be ready. If the clouds remained I would be leaving right after totality.

I also checked the Clearskies app to see what they were calling for with the cloud cover. From noon till 4 it was calling for 100% cloud cover. The weather app was also calling for cloudy skies between that time. Only good thing was the rain would be completely out by noon.

At least I wouldn’t be getting soaked looking up at a cloudy sky. As I sat there, waiting for the show to begin the rain stopped and the clouds started to disappear. It was still a little cloudy around 1 but you could finally start seeing the sun again.

Right before 2 the sky was almost cloud free. There were some clouds here or there but it definitely wasn’t a cloudy sky. It ended up being perfect for the eclipse.

The eclipse started at 1401 and I started snapping pictures around 2. For the next hour and 15 minutes I snapped photos of the eclipse and kept my eye on the clouds. At a couple points the clouds thickened up and blocked out the sun. However, it wasn’t for longer than 30 seconds or so.

Right around 1515 and 58 seconds the moon completely covered the sun. Totality was happening and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. For the next 2 minutes and 42 seconds I was just speechless. There is no way to even describe the feeling I was feeling.

To think I was willing, only a few months ago to settle on 99%, is beyond me. Being there, seeing it in person, was a once in a lifetime experience. For me the next chance to see a total solar eclipse (without driving to) won’t happen until May 1st, 2079. I’ll be 97 and most likely won’t be around.

A partial eclipse will be visible for me in 2029, 2038, and 2040 where a decent percentage of the sun will be covered by the moon. In 2045 a Total solar eclipse will travel from California to Florida and the best chance for anyone who missed this one.

Anyway, those 2 minutes and 42 seconds were unbelievable. Still, days later, I get chills thinking about it. When the sky got dark and the sun started to shine behind the moon was like nothing I’ve seen before. I will forever remember that moment.

All I could do was just stare up. I did manage to do a full look around the area where it almost looked like a sunset all around. It was also eerie silent. At least for the first couple of seconds after totality. People cheered. Birds sang, and fireworks could be heard going off in the distance. But after that it was silent.

Maybe it really wasn’t and it was just my mind that completely shut everything off. Guess I might never know. But to me it was peaceful and silent for over 2 minutes.

Right before the moon moved away from the sun you could see the sunlight racing to fill back in. I couldn’t imagine what that must’ve looked like from the air. That would have been something else as well.

I must say that those 2 minutes and 42 seconds felt like forever and not the bad kind either. I didn’t want it to end but like the saying goes “ All good things must come to an end”. You know what? They were right. Totality ended and the sun started to shine again. I was still in “awe” with what I just witnessed.

For the next hour and 15 minutes I continued to take pictures of the eclipse and started to pack up the rest of our stuff. I ended up taking over 500 photos of the event. I didn’t just snap a photo every 30 seconds.

I kind of just snapped a photo whenever I felt like it. No real rhyme or reason.

The eclipse ended around 1630. By 1645 we were leaving the campground and started to head towards the highway.

It wasn’t long before we hit traffic. We only managed to make it a mile down the road before we hit bumper to bumper traffic. I was expecting to hit traffic. However, I wasn’t expecting to hit this much this soon.

Right after totality, most of the people at the campground packed up and left. So, I was expecting heavier traffic closer to the highway. The time on Google Maps went from a 6 hour and 20 minute drive up to almost 7 and a half hours.
This wasn’t a good thing for me. If you remember, my check engine light was on. So far, everything seemed to be working fine. I had no problems with the stop and go traffic we were stuck in.

It ended up taking us over an hour and a half to go 25 miles. The entire time we would only move a couple of feet a minute. Thankfully, I had enough sense in the morning to top off the gas tank. This really ended up paying off later on, on the trip.

Once we made it on to I-80 traffic didn’t really improve. The only good thing was traffic was moving. It wasn’t at a stand still like it was on the “back” roads we were traveling on before.

As far as the eye could see, you could see taillights. It really was an impressive sight to see. Now I have seen a fair amount of traffic in my travels. I can say I have never witnessed this much traffic in this type of area. This was semi rural America. Plus this traffic wasn’t caused by an accident or construction. This traffic was caused by the massive amount of people that came out to witness a special show.

For the next half hour traffic only seemed to increase. Plus my arrival time back home slowly started to increase. I finally got an alert that there was a 34 minute slow down 10 miles ahead but “google” found a quicker route that would save me 27 minutes.

I did what anyone would do and took the recommendation. Many other people on the highway did the same thing. I pulled off the interstate and started down the back road google had decided was the best.

Not long after pulling off the highway did my excitement leave. We turned off the one road and started heading down a back country dirt road up a mountain. To make matters even worse, I had no service.

If my car decided to quit I could be stranded with no way to call a tow truck. Besides, all the cars, and there were a lot of them, behind me would have been screwed too. There was no passing on this mountain road. You barely had enough room for yourself, let alone another car passing you.

I ended traveling on this dirt, pothole ridden, winding mountain road for over 6 miles. Some sections were better than others but most of the ride had me riding high with anxiety.

Luckily, we managed to get off the road and started making our way back to I-80. Before long we were back on the highway and heading east. The traffic seemed to be a little lighter at this point too. I guess many other motorists were stuck in the backup that Google warned me about.

I also figured I didn’ have too much to worry about with my car since I was able to make it up and down the mountain with no problems. I still didn’t want to make any unnecessary stops, but I figured I’d be okay the rest of the way.

Traffic did start picking up again but many cars ended up exiting around the State College exits. Once we got past ext 161 traffic started to die down a little more. From here we still had about 2 hours till I wanted to stop for gas. The sun set a little before this and the dark was setting in.

If you have never driven on I-80 in central PA after sunset, it’s a different kind of driving in the dark. You won’t find any lights other than from the other vehicles on the road. Plus many of the small towns that might pop up alongside the highway are not very bright either. It really is dark.

However, we continued on and finally made it to Wawa right near the Turnpike entrance. At this point it was around 2230 (1030pm). I was lucky enough to find an open gas pump. This place was packed at the pumps and inside the store.

Many of the people inside were coming from the eclipse. I saw several people wearing eclipse shirts inside. We all still had hours to go before we would get home.

After filling up the car with gas, I crossed my fingers and hoped my car would start back up. Luckily, it fired right up and we were off to finish the last leg of our trip. We ended up making it home a little before 1230.

It ended up taking around 7 and half hours to get from Pymatuning State Park to Lower Bucks County.

All things considered that really wasn’t too bad. Normally that trip would take around 6 hours to complete. When you factor in all the extra people out in western PA and coming back from New York and Ohio. 7 ½ hours wasn’t bad at all.

Highlights

I traveled over 600 miles from Friday morning to Monday night.

We traveled through 4 State Forest, maybe one or two more.

We traveled through one National Forest.

Numerous scenic overlooks were visited.

10 State parks visited.

At least 22 out of the 67 PA counties were traveled through.

Two States visited (spend a couple minutes in Ohio since we were so close).

One lifetime event.

My check engine code was a misfire in cylinder 2.