1,220 lighting strikes in 48 hours!!

[Wawona1]

‎"During the past 48 hours, Yosemite National Park experienced 1,220 lightning strikes, leading to at least 14 fire starts."

http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/current_fire.htm

[orion]

must have been a blast. probably that scaredest i've ever been was in the high country for a corn-snow/lightning storm. i wonder if anyone will come down with some tales of this one.

i saw that weather pattern this morning on the news. moisture pulled up through the desert from the south and then brought back down through the mountains behind a low pressure. never seen that one before, certainly wouldn't have known what to make of it if i was there.

[bill-e-g]

Same thing happened last year Oct 1.

30% chance of intermittent thundershowers turned into this (Monday morning):



If you go out... you just better be prepared.

Main thing IMO for thunder and lightning is... get lower into some
trees that exhibit no signs of lightning strikes and not much to
worry about.... enjoy the show...

[ggryd]

I happened to be in the midle of that!

My fifth night out, just down from Clouds Rest (I had been to the top, through the fog, mist and clouds earlier that afternoon) and camped in a nice spot by the pines and stream, close to the split off to Half Dome.

It was Sunday night and as I lay in my tent, the night sky was lit up all night from the lightning! Most flashes were followed within 2-3 seconds by the loudest thunder I've ever heard. And with the echoed effect of the mountains, (I timed one thunder echo for 45 seconds!), it was amazing. Very similar to incoming rockets and mortars.

On top of that, the largest pine cones I've seen were bombing all around me, sounding like bowling balls thudding into the ground. Many came close, but no direct hits, thankfully!

Nothing I could do but experience the awesome power of such a storm. I never had a fear of danger, just an absolute appreciation for the power of God. I'll never forget it.

Two days later, I was talking with a ranger who mentioned the storm; it was apparently quite a topic of conversation around the park. And we also spoke about the number of hikers (term is used loosely here) that were rescued from HD on Saturday. I had hoped to climb it on Monday, but weather had it closed down.

Now that I am back in S Florida, I would be a bit remiss if I didn't record a copuple of observations in this forum, where I had received so much good, relevant info in planning my trip.

I was shocked at the number of people I saw in 8 days, in particular in the Valley. I thought I was in Disney World. Truly discouraging. And I was a bit amazed at the number of "hikers" doing the falls circuits that appeared so ill-equipped.

But the trails were extremely comfortable, wide and, for the most part, pretty soft, unlike Appalachian trails. Water was plentiful, the trails were well marked, although I doubted the distances, and campsites were nice.

All in all, though, an outstanding adventure. And thanks to everyone who posted herein. You guys are the best!

Hope to return to other parts of the park sometime soon.

[orion]

glad you had a good time of it. i myself have no god, just desperation in the face of monumental indifference when that stuff flies. next time get to the backcountry and you won't see any "hikers" on those days, or rangers, just the storm speaking