Millions of people in Mexico, the United States, and Canada were in the "path of totality," where a full solar eclipse blocked the sun. One community that was lucky enough to witness the rare event is Stowe, Vermont.

Stowe

Millions of individuals across Mexico, the United States, and Canada experienced the awe-inspiring phenomenon of a total solar eclipse recently. During the event, these regions found themselves in the "path of totality," a specific area where the moon completely obscured the sun, plunging day into temporary darkness. One of the communities fortunate enough to view this rare celestial event in its entirety was Stowe, Vermont, marking a significant moment for both locals and visitors who gathered to witness the spectacle.



Total solar eclipse sweeps across North America

It's hard to put into words what we experienced here on Mount Mansfield, which is Vermont's highest peak. So did the eclipse live up to the hype? That would be an emphatic yes. Anticipation and excitement built all day leading up to the beginning of the eclipse at 2.14 this afternoon, but the crescendo came at totality from 3.26 to 3.29. Darkness descended on the mountain and it got cold, very cold. The skiers stopped to look up and the sun put on an amazing show. Nature was hushed, but what wasn't hushed was the cheers that emanated from the crowd. Solar flares shot out from the darkness and the sun briefly resembled an inverted diamond ring. We met up with a couple who came here from West Islet to ski. What they didn't know until they booked their Airbnb is that they were entering the path of totality and when they found out they did not miss the opportunity to watch. That was just phenomenal, phenomenal. Worth the 10-hour drive up here from Long Island. It was just epic. It's really just something that you have heard about and then when you actually experience it, it's just so much greater than what you hear about and it got cold. It definitely got very cold. It was 60 degrees and then dropped to like 30 degrees in five minutes, but just amazing, just an amazing experience really. It was a great time. Honestly, like the excitement up here was surreal and it was almost like New Year's Eve, but like 10 times better. I second that. It was spectacular. It was way better than New Year's Eve and what's hard to quantify or even qualify is the sense of camaraderie and community that took place up there. I lost track of the number of people who came up to us and welcomed us into town and said, hey, can I see the pictures you took? Can you send those to me? Can you text them to me? For a nation that is so often divided by race and religion and any other number of factors, today for a time it just seemed that everyone came together if only for a few minutes to look up and just take in this awe-inspiring sight.

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