Partial Eclipse 2024

Monday, Apr 1:

I rucked 4.5 miles in 1:37:40, exploring Cramerton to refamiliarize myself with the area and do some recon in the lead-up to the South Fork Sampler.  I had 30# in my b3 shorty rucker and wore MACV2s.

Things do change... last year, there had been a flood.  This year, there seemed to be lots of sand on the banks.  It looked clean, so I wonder if it was added by man, not pushed there by water.  New trails can get blazed or built, and old trails can get overgrown.  It was a productive trip!

Tuesday, Apr 2:

My RC2 suppressor was finally approved, so I tested it out for the first time at Blackstone.  I anticipated having to zero it because of potential POI shifts.  First, I zeroed the rifle by itself, to make sure I had a good baseline.  I went 9 clicks right to get the gun good.  

I shot 3 with the RC2 and went 1 more click to the right.  Surprisingly, my group looked a bit better with the suppressor than it did without.  

For pistol, I worked on cadence and one-handed shooting.

Wednesday, Apr 3:

18A "Upper Body Prep" in 33:07, then "Push-up" in 49:18.  I did pretty well, especially considering this was post-Bragg taper, event, and recovery.

Thursday, Apr 4: 

Yoga for Abdominal Strength & Day 12 - Drop - BREATH yoga with Adriene.  My arms were sore today, which is nice.

Friday, Apr 5:

HDT 31.1.2 (CORE) in 43:10 because I wanted my abs to be sore, too.  I did a 2 min OH hold with a palmed 60#SB at the end.

Went to Coleman's for some pogo stick and Vortex Impact practice:

The Impact can be usable when there's enough slope to the ground to give you a decently-sized hitting area to work with.

I practiced holding by pre-dialing a certain amount, to force an even bigger hold.  It actually wasn't that bad, since the reticle has lots of nice dots to work with.

As it got dark, I used white light for some positional AR15 drills.  While doing some pistol under NODS, I had a malfunction, and as I was clearing it, a round whose bullet had been sheared came out.  Never seen that before!

I did the positional drills with rifle and pistol under NODS.  I only stayed for an hour's worth of darkness, but I made efficient use of the time.

The suppressor does get hot, so I let it cool before packing it way, which meant doing pistol at the end.

Saturday, Apr 6:

I slept at a parking lot nearby so that I could continue shooting the next day.  

I did 7 mags worth of Scott's one-live + one dry drill.  I also intentionally shot my suppressor off since carbon had built up and locked it on the previous night.  The suppressor did get banged up as it crash landed in the gravel bay, even with a cover on it.

I did some turn-and-shoot, Bill Drill, and El Pres practice, too.  Rounds create some cool patterns upon impact.

I reset my elevation on the Impact, to try to start from scratch.  Then, I tried re-confirming on silhouetted targets at 340yd and 1026yd, but it was all jacked up, as before.  

Played with pistol targets at the arcade bay.

Also replayed some team match stages and got tips from Scott on having the spotter move the shooter's gun to get them near target quickly.

Sunday, Apr 7:

Flow - Day 10 - Align & Day 23 - Root Yoga with Adriene.  My abs did get sore from HDT a few days ago like I wanted.  

I biked 10.7 miles around the neighborhood in 1:05, to make sure my bike worked before South Fork Sampler.  Afterwards, I did a 3 mile ruck with a 30#RPC in MACV1s, to check how my parent's new house build was coming along.

Monday, Apr 8:

I love lights and unique phenomenon.  It would've been nice to go to a place with totality, but it was more than 4 hours away, which was about my limit.  I'd settle for a partial eclipse.  This year, I was prepared with legit glasses ahead of time.  I had gotten some last time there was a partial eclipse in the area, but there was a chance that the ones that I had gotten were fakes, and I didn't want to risk it.

The ones that I got happened to come in a 3-pack, and since I didn't have anyone to experience it with, I was able to give them away to neighbors who had waited until the last day to try to find some.  

I decided to go to the USNWC to watch it, since it was the most open area I could think of, and it seems like you'd want to see as much of the sky as possible to get the true effect.  If you are already in the trees or surrounded by buildings, all you see are buildings and other things that you'd see on normal days anyways.

I got there a bit early, so I rucked a total of 4 miles between the "before" and the "after".  

I created a pinwheel camera, too, so that I could have multiple types of experiences.

I definitely enjoyed myself!  The people-watching aspect was decent, too.  There weren't that many people there, but there were a few groups who had the same idea.  Some people were even rafting during the experience!  Without glasses, you might think that it was just a cloudy day, though, in my opinion.  That's how the world looked.