The total eclipse that crossed much of the US on April 8, was a much anticipated event, especially in Texas where Austin, Waco, and Dallas were all in the path of totality. For weeks leading up to the big event the local news was a little over the top about the masses of people that were descending on the great state of Texas. While Austin was in the path of totality, the better spots with more time in the darkness were up into the Hill Country. Fredericksburg, Marble Falls and Burnet were all hot destinations with 4+ minutes of totality.  The town of Burnett booked a big time music and camping festival that reportedly had almost 30,000 people show up. For a little while the news was trying to claim several hundred thousand people were going to descend on Kerrville and Fredericksburg.

As luck would have it, about a week before the big event the weather forecast started to look grim for the Texas Hill Country, with clouds and possible late thunderstorms in the forecast. Needless to say it put a damper on the crowds. 

When the big day came I decided to buy a parking pass at a distillery\music venu about 20 miles from Austin called the Iron Wolf. It was 20 miles away from the absolute center of the path, and would give us 4 minutes instead of 2 of totality. Hopefully we wouldn’t not get stuck in ridiculous  traffic on the way home as well.

We left super early to make sure to “beat the crown”, and arrived at the venu a little before it opened. The roads were empty, not ever normal monday austin traffic.

The clouds looked thick in the morning, with very little breaks in the clouds or sites of the sun. The staff at the venu clearly wasn’t accustomed to the 9:00 Monday morning start of things, but as the festivities picked up, the food, drinks and music were a nice build up to the big event. 

The clouds started to break as the moon creeped its way to totally, the band took a break, the clouds cleared somewhat, and we had an awesome totality.

It is not always easy to see a total eclipse, and the weather can ruin the main event of the big day, but it’s one of the coolest things you can go see, and you only get some many chances.

The Iron Wolf was a pretty cool place. Only a few miles from one of the finest BBQ joins in Texas. It’s also right next to one of my favorite boat ramps, we stopped by for a quick look and it was CLOSED! Gates up, for, what seems to be no good reason. Kinda puts a damper on possible trips back to the wolf. On another note, they don’t sell beer at this joint, and I don’t think it’s because it was eclipse day. I know, it’s a distillery and all, but it’s also a big ass music venue, and sometimes you need a good old brew to wash down a six pack of whiskey drinks.