Wyoming Looks Back On The 2017 Eclipse

Monday, April 8th, 2024, a solar eclipse moves across the United States.

The last solar eclipse visible in the U.S. occurred on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017.

Its path of totality started on the West Coast and worked its way across the nation, running right down the center of Wyoming.

For some, viewing the eclipse was easy. Folks in Casper and Glendo, Wyoming already lived there.

America's least populated state suddenly filled to the brim with travelers from all over the world.

Wyoming had a population of just over 500,000 at the time. Add over a million to that for the event.

The small town of Glendo, Wyoming has just 239 residents. That number swelled by thousands.

But that's for those who stayed in town or by the west side of the Glendo Reservoir. I camped on the east side of the lake and only about a dozen other people were camping around us.

Casper, Wyoming was PACKED!

The airport was jammed with private jets and other smaller airplanes.

Because hotels were booked out way in advance, some Casper residents were renting spots in their yards for camping.

Crowds filled the top of Casper Mountain and the overlook below, spilling down to the Wyoming Ford Event Center on the other side of the interstate.

There were a few whispy clouds in Casper that day. A light cloud did park right in front of the event. But it was still awe-inspiring.

The video below is a timelapse of the event.

Let's not forget the traffic jam after the eclipse.

How do over 1 million people travel Wyoming's few highways out of the state?

It was the only statewide traffic jam in the history of Wyoming and WOW was it interesting to be caught up in it.

Not fun for everyone, but it was interesting, and yet another historic event on that day.

There was nowhere to pull over if someone had to pee or poop. So people had to just do it on the side of the road.

Yeah, it got UGLY.

The people in the video below were caught in it all day.

It will be a while before another total eclipse crosses the United States.

You'll have to stay alive until Aug. 23, 2044, according to NASA.

Unfortunately, the 2044 total solar eclipse won't have the broad reach across the U.S. as the 2024 eclipse.