SPECULATOR — Early spring rarely means business for Speculator.
This weekend was the exception to the norm for the Hamilton County community on state Route 30. Traffic is expected to only intensify on Monday, the day of a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse passing through the North Country.
At Mountain Market, fuel pumps have been refilled and coolers restocked. Extra staff will be on the clock.
“I guess the biggest prep for us would be mentally,” said Justin Taylor, manager of the Speculator convenience store.
On Monday, as many as 100,000 day-trippers are expected to travel to the Adirondacks to witness the cosmic spectacle. The biggest hot spots are just north of Speculator within the 100-mile path of totality, including Indian Lake, Old Forge and Lake Placid.
Mary Jane Lawrence, chief of staff at Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in Lake Placid, said most lodging properties are expected to remain at full capacity within the Olympic village between Sunday and Monday. That’s expected to drop to 50% by Tuesday.
Lawrence expects the inflow of visitors to make up for what is historically a slow month in the Adirondacks. What’s more, she hopes it will serve as a shot in the arm following an unusually mild winter.
“Certainly the lack of snow has not helped our winter, so we're very thankful that Mother Nature came around and it’s her way of apologizing, I'm sure,” Lawrence said.
Whiteface Mountain in Essex County on Monday is expected to reach daily traffic numbers potentially comparable to President’s Day weekend, according to resort spokesperson Lauren Garfield. The resort — along with Gore Mountain and West Mountain — is expected to hold respective eclipse viewing parties.
Whiteface ski officials have advised travelers to come early, fuel up and pack snacks, as the traffic is expected to be unruly along nearby state Route 86.
“Be prepared for it to take a long time to get to whatever your destination is after here because we just don't know what that traffic situation is going to be like,” Garfield said.
Traffic jams during the last solar eclipse in the United States seven years ago lasted between seven and 15.5 hours. At least five million people traveled to see the rare event.
Lying in a wider and more densely populated stretch of the country, this round is expected to attract a larger following — and cause even more traffic delays. Congestion warnings have been issued across all 11 states within the path of totality.
A number of school districts across the region have closed due to concerns over traffic and student safety — watching the eclipse without specialty glasses can cause permanent retina damage.
The state has crafted an intra-agency emergency operations plan to deal with disruptions to traffic, cell phone networks and community supplies, as well as emergency route obstructions.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has warned travelers to avoid watching the eclipse from the Adirondack High Peaks, which are still covered in four feet of wet snow, as well as ice and thick pockets of mud. Such conditions can obstruct hiking, especially in the dark.
Lower elevation trails can also be dangerous, said Warren County Emergency Management Director Ann Marie Mason. The county is particularly treacherous around its northwest corner.
“We've been trying to advise as many people as we can to please be careful when you're hiking if you're going on any of the trails,” she said. “There could be a lot of twisted ankles and things like that coming out of the woods — and it's also cold. They don't realize the temperature is lower up in the Adirondacks.”
Mason has also advised members of the public to stay in the vehicles on highways during the eclipse.
Her jurisdiction covers a stretch of U.S. Route 9, U.S. Route 9N and the Adirondack Northway — two popular highways connecting the Capital Region to the Mohawk Valley. Other connectors include state Highway 22 from Washington County, in addition to state routes 10 and 30 in Fulton County.
“We’re keeping extra patrols from [Monday] evening into Tuesday for the travelers coming back,” said Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino.
Giardino added that he doesn’t expect the county agency to face the same outflow challenges as other agencies in the eastern half of the Adirondack Park.
At Fuel-N-Food, a deli and gas station along Route 30 in Mayfield, owner Lou Stutzke said that inflow could still result in a boom business.
“There will be 10,000 or 20,000 people going up Northway,” said Stutzke. “It'll have the same effect with us for 1,000 people on Route 30.”
The owner and his wife have been vacationing in Florida, but plan to take a 4 a.m. flight on Monday to get to Albany by 9 a.m. and view the solar eclipse from Indian Lake once it starts around 2 p.m. It’s expected to take more than two hours.
“I, myself, am going north, but the girls [at the shop] are going to be prepared for it and it’s going to be awesome,” Stutzke said.
He said, if the inflow is sizable enough, Fuel-N-Food might throw a party in the parking lot. The eclipse in Mayfield will be a deep partial at 98%.