Lightening & Thunderstorm!

Right now I am sitting on the edge of my bed looking out of my bedroom window at the lightening and thunderstorm that is going on right now in Rexburg, ID. This is the first lightening and thunderstorm of the summer. I love the pulse of light followed by the strike of lightening that flashes across the dark rolling clouds in the sky. As I have been watching this spectacular lightening show and listening to the rolling roar of the thunder my mind has taken me back to the last time I saw lightening and heard thunder. In fact, I was right in the middle of it.

So there I was...it was my first week back on the trail after graduating in July 2007. I was in the boys group and the other Trail Walker (TW) I was with was actually the newly hired nurse who was going through his first week on the trail. This is typical of hired office staff to spend a week on the trail in order to understand trail life up close and personal. But there I was - in charge of 4-5 boys and training a new Anasazi office employee - all on my own after being away for 8 months.

By day four (Saturday) we had only reached our day two (Thursday) destination due to very slow packing in the morning by the boys as well as very slow hiking from the nurse due to some physical limitations and dehydration which ended up turning into heat exhaustion. All not a very good combination. On day five (Sunday) we were able to pull the nurse out of the group in which two other TW's joined me for that day's hike. We high-tailed it as fast as we could to the rendezvous point where these two TW's would then be switched out by another TW who would be with me the remaider of the week.

As we neared the rendezvous point - it being Arizona's monsoon season - thick, dark clouds began to move in on us. It didn't take long before rain began to fall and thunder began to pound throughout the sky. By the time we reached our camping spot we could see lightening bolts stricking the earth not too far away from us. We quickly figured out the logistics of our campsite and then went to work in putting up shelters. I quickly made my way to the nearby river bed to gather the needed rocks to secure my shelter down using the light from the lightening to find the rocks. By the time I made it back to my pack the rain had began to fall heavy on us and the snap of thunder was piercing to our ears. We were all scrambling as fast as we could and as efficient as we could as our bodies shook with chills and our hands were swollen, stiff, and numb.

I was just finishing untying my pack when I stood up to begin the next step of setting up my shelter. As I stood completely up, in the split second that I looked up and straight ahead of me and lightening bolt struck the barbed-wire fence that was about 20-30ft in front of me. In that instant and all at the same time I felt the hair on my arms stand up and the electrical current of the lightening bolt run through my body as I dropped flat to the ground. Fear shot through my heart as it skipped a few beats. We quickly told the Young Walkers (YW) to spread out in the open field we were camping in and get as low to the ground as possible and away from the trees.

I grabbed my pack and the extra tarp I had and ran! Being clear from the surrounding trees and away from any other person I dropped to the ground, covered myself up with my tarp, and spooned with my pack in order to keep it from getting wet. I laid there and plead for my life as I listened to the crack of thunder, the pounding of the rain on my tarp, and the strikes of lightening hitting the trees. I literally thought I was in the last moments of my life and plead that I wouldn't be taken like that.

After about half an hour the storm had passed over us and it was safe for us to resume our task of setting up shelters. I quickly set mine up and then helped some of the boys get their shelters set up as best we could in the dark. Once we were all situated and everybody was tucked away in their sleeping bags I changed into some drier clothes, slipped into my sleeping bag, and said a long prayer of gratitude for the safety we had been blessed with and again plead for that safety to continue throughout the rest of the night as we slept.

Fear from that experience still effects me and I am grateful that I can view the occuring storm through my window in the safety of my apartment. I love mother nature and the magnificent shows and wonders she displays. I just don't particularly enjoy being in the middle of a life-threatening display of mother nature's power. This lightening and thunderstorm is amazing and I only wish I had a camera in which I could take a picture of it and share it with you.