{"id":18855,"date":"2017-07-29T23:30:29","date_gmt":"2017-07-29T15:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/oregons-prime-solar-eclipse-zone-braces-for-the-agony-and-the-ecstasy-of-totality\/"},"modified":"2017-07-29T23:30:29","modified_gmt":"2017-07-29T15:30:29","slug":"oregons-prime-solar-eclipse-zone-braces-for-the-agony-and-the-ecstasy-of-totality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/oregons-prime-solar-eclipse-zone-braces-for-the-agony-and-the-ecstasy-of-totality\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon\u2019s prime solar eclipse zone braces for the agony and the ecstasy of totality"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Solartown
Oregon\u2019s Mount Jefferson looms on the western horizon outside Madras. The fields on either side of the blacktop road will be turned into a \u201cSolartown\u201d campground for 4,900 tents during the runup to the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MADRAS, Ore. \u2013 If there\u2019s one thing central Oregon has in abundance, it\u2019s open space. And that\u2019s a good thing for the total solar eclipse that\u2019s due to sweep through the region on Aug. 21.<\/p>\n

Even though hotel rooms are sold out anywhere that\u2019s even near the 70-mile-wide zone of totality running across the state, there\u2019s still a good chance of finding an enterprising landowner who\u2019ll rent you a camping spot.<\/p>\n

But if there\u2019s one thing central Oregon doesn\u2019t have a whole lot of, it\u2019s four-lane highways.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s likely to be an issue for the hundreds of thousands of eclipse-chasers who are expected to swarm into towns like Madras, Prineville, Mitchell and John Day. Or maybe not.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bad thing about it is that nobody knows how bad it\u2019s going to get,\u201d said Terry Hansen, park host for Round Butte Overlook Park, just west of Madras.<\/p>\n

Weeks before Eclipse Day, worries about jammed-up roads, gas stations and food stores are looming over central Oregon like the dark clouds that skywatchers hope will stay far, far away in August.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big reason why Oregon Gov. Kate Brown authorized the state\u2019s National Guard this week to put six aircraft and about 150 soldiers and airmen on standby to assist with eclipse traffic control and support services.<\/p>\n

Oregon is expecting about a million tourists to visit the state for the total eclipse, the first such event to take place in the continental U.S. since 1979.<\/p>\n

Many of those tourists will be on the more populated west side of the Cascades, in cities like Salem and Corvallis, which are also in the totality zone. But an estimated 250,000 or more will venture over to Madras and its environs \u2013 a thinly populated region that has the highest probability of clear skies, based on U.S. historical data.<\/p>\n