[philmont] Baldy Porch Talk

A couple of Eagle Scouts from our Troop were hiking the A.T. a couple
of years ago. They were on a ridge trail on a rocky steep mountain in
Tennessee when some nasty looking storm clouds formed and were headed
their way. They couldn't get down, so they decided to hike as fast as
they could to the next shelter. They were hiking with a couple they
met on the trail. The couple decided the storm couldn't be that bad
and kept hiking at their regular pace. Our guys made it down to the
shelter just before the storm. Several hours later the
boyfriend/girlfriend stumbled into the shelter, looking like cartoon
characters, with their disheveled clothes and hair standing straight
up. A bolt of lightning had hit the ground right between them,
knocking them in opposite directions about ten feet through the air.
The guy was unconscious for several minutes. They were in a daze all
night and left the trail the next morning.

My brother-in-law is a volleyball tournament promoter. Most of his
tournaments are in the Rockies. He constantly monitors the weather
during the tournaments because it is not unusual for storm clouds to
form below the peaks of the mountains, on the opposite side of the
mountains and out of sight. If weather threatens, they cancel the
tournament, frequently incurring the wrath of the spectators, who see
clear blue skies. Sometimes, within minutes, lightning will strike,
arcing over the top of the mountain from clouds that cannot be seen.
There are then no more complaints. These storms are almost always in
the afternoon.

This is serious stuff. People get killed. Flatlanders like me have
grown-up thinking that our chances of getting struck by lightning are
slim to none. That may be true unless you are on top of a mountain
during a lightning storm. Then, your odds are pretty high.

Dan Preston

On Jul 31, 2007, at 4:21 PM, Dr. Bob Klein wrote:

> A mountain lion might kill one person. A bear might kill one person,
> maybe more if he/she were trapped or protecting a cub and was in close
> combat with a group. A fall, or a large rock, might kill one, maybe
> two people. A rattlesnake might kill one (very unlucky) person.
>
> One lightning strike could in an instant easily kill every single
> member of an entire Crew. As in, light's out, c'est fini.
>
> Nothing at Philmont scares me like lightning.
>
> Any questions?

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Received on Tue Jul 31 17:15:04 2007