Well, within about a klik, the thunder started up, but I decided I was committed to completing the hike. I brought my Mountain Warehouse jacket and I decided to forgo the insect repellent. Deer flies be damned. It was really a decision to be sweaty from the jacket or be sweaty from the jacket and be covered with insect repellent, knowing I could not shower afterwards.
The dear flies were totally insane. But with the jacket, I did not get bitten. So, a fair trade off. I did swing my hiking staff around to "shoo" them away for most of the hike though. At least my upper body got a workout.
By the time I hit the hikers' shelter I thought I was not going to get out without a soaking. The clouds rolled in and were very ominous; the thunder was near constant. To the point that I was concerned about lightening and hugged the scrub and trees hoping to not be the highest point when the fireworks started and being a ground point for nature's wrath.
i know it does not look like much, but the storm waiting to break just after the shelter
As I approached the final run back to the truck it was getting dicey. It was spitting and I was expecting a complete and utter deluge. It did not come. At least while I was on the trail. Then I looked at my tracking app and wanted to get a bit more distance logged to try to make up the failing to hike or walk for the two days previous.
The sky still would not open up and hammer the stuffing out of me. I made up a little bit of distance and then drove off. As I was heading back to town, I could see the torrent approaching. It came across the farm fields just like when I was on that lake with my cousin, so many years ago. Let me tell you, as powerful as it was yesterday, it does not compare to how a storm sweeps across a body of water.
As I, and several travellers, were approaching town, it was obvious to all we were doomed. How doomed was up to us.The bonehead in the lead apparently got a little scared. They slowed down. No! You do not slow down. You maintain. It was not bad yet. Slowing down only means you are putting yourself in the middle of it sooner. This joker kept us all from making it in to town just ahead of the festivities.
A couple of kliks out of town, it hit. The heavy rain swept across us. No biggie. Then the program really started. Hail. Not the teeny-weeny stuff you usually get. And, this stuff just kept getting bigger and bigger. You know those jumbo grapes you can get in the grocery store? The hail was bigger than that. Some pieces were the size of small sandwiches. I am lucky my truck was not dented in the end. Vehicles were peeling off looking for shelter when we hit town.
I even tried it. To no avail. So, I boogied on home and slogged through the ice to find a somewhat worried the wife. She texted me on my way home. Sorry, did not hear the phone ding from all the icebergs trying to kill me.
It was wild. It lasted only about ten-fifteen minutes. Then boom, it was over. As we had no water, and the wife was not feeling well (she probably picked up the temporary plague the boy had), she scooped up a bunch of hail ice off the deck in to a bowl for cold compresses. She is a smart cookie she is.
deck ice for the wife
Then it rained heavily. Then it stopped. Then it rained again. It was a series of storms that went through the area. The likes of which I had not seen for more than a decade when we first moved here. Cool, foreboding, spooky, and neat. I am very lucky, thank-you Universe for the small respite on the trail. And it is supposed to be like this all week. Joy. blbbl
No comments:
Post a Comment