Another thing (not) to worry about

Which tree got hit? Is it third from last photo on the left?

Also, glad you and Max are ok.

Yes, that’s the tree. The third photo, taken right after the storm in the evening. It’s the one at far left. You can see raw wood showing and shards lying around the bottom

Yes, we are fine!

Here are some other angles. Actually, this first one is pretty good, I probably should have posted it originally because you can see the whole tree.

Yikes! Glad you weren’t hurt, by either the lightning or flying debris.

Lightning is my most feared element of backpacking. Storms come up fast and furious, and no matter how much you plan, if you are trying to make miles,  you will be up on a peak in weather at some point, freaking out. You just will. And even not on the peak, as your amazing photos show, lightning can find you.  Short of a portable backpacking Faraday cage that fits into a tent, we’re sitting ducks. If my time has come, so be it. I just hope it’s instantaneous!

Yep, I try not to let it frighten me too much, but lightning is so random and unpredictable, it is largely out of our control. I REALLY felt that helplessness sitting there in my tent, with the wooden shards scattered around. And I also thought about the “instantaneous” part. Maybe it’s not the worst way to go.

I feel much the same about avalanches and a few other backcountry dangers. We learn rules of thumb, and think they will keep us safe, but I think that the most the rules can do is tilt the odds a bit more in our favor. Mostly, we are lucky that these are rare events.

Great write up.  And photo’s.   Lightening hits where and when it wishes.  That tree did you a favor.  Glad everyone is OK.

Very true, Ray. I’ve always heard that lightning is more likely to hit living trees, but that snag was pretty tall and definitely drew the fire away from me.

Looks like you were fortunate not be injured by a ground current with a hit that close.

As for the shrapnel, I’ve found tree parts half a football field from the victim tree (I stepped off 48 yards in the pic):

Wow, Todd, those pieces really flew! Were you camped near there, or did you just happen to see that?

And yes I thought about the ground current as well. The ground was pretty wet. But I didn’t feel anything other than the impact itself.

Great pictures & happy to hear that tree didn’t flash off!

I had a near hit experience this spring backpacking the Heaven’s Gate trail along the shore of Georgian Bay.  The route follows exposed quartzite ridges along the local highest ground.

The forecast was decent but a storm rolled in from Lake Superior.  Site lines are long next to the Great Lakes & I had a good view of the front from the ridge so thought I had a lot of time.  Quickly enough it looked to be ~ 5km off, putting me in the danger zone so I double timed and got off the ridge into the first densely forested section I found.

A minute later I was blinded by a flash and simultaneous booming thunder right behind me where I was just standing on the ridge.   I grew up in an area famous for lightning storms and as a kid saw the tree get hit at the neighbour’s across the street but had never heard or seen lightning this close before.    Way too close for comfort!

That was followed a bit later by hard hail then driving rain in the 40s for hours so I bushwhacked for cover when I could and set up camp early since I couldn’t really work my thumbs at one point.

I always think of lightning risk as being in the Rockies or Adirondacks and don’t give it as much thought on my other flatter-land trips, but that was a wake up call that I can get hit just about anywhere.  Also a nerve jangling reminder that lightning risk is well in advance of the actual rain.

A picture of my goofy optimism not knowing what was just behind me.

David, that sounds scary to be exposed like that, and it can be hard to keep your head and make good decisions when things get so unpredictable and uncomfortable. Sounds like you did well.

Wow, Todd, those pieces really flew! Were you camped near there, or did you just happen to see that?

Wasn’t there for it.  By the appearance of things, I figure it happened within the last day or so.

The meadow was littered with chunks, many basically 1x4s of various lengths.  I hunted for for the piece farthest from the tree, which was the little 15-inch piece shown.  I kept it as a souvenir.

A trip which sort of failed. Kosci NP (Aus), summer , many years ago.
We were camped in a ‘relatively’ safe place, but a storm came up and hit. The tent worked fine against the rain (my blue tunnel), but one bolt of lightning hit something nearby at one stage. The white light was blinding. Then I realised that my eyes had been SHUT at the time. A bit bright.

Cheers

Yep, when the lightning hits nearby, it’s extremely bright, and the thunder is so sharp and deafening. I think that was what really got my dog so frightened because he has been through many storms with me, and usually the only thing that bothers him is if he is actually being hit by hail, then he wants to take cover.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be a lasting effect because when we were out walking in our neighborhood a couple of days later, there was some thunder around (but not right on top of us), and he totally ignored it.

it’s extremely bright, and the thunder is so sharp and deafening. I think that was what really got my dog so frightened … when we were out walking in our neighborhood a couple of days later, there was some thunder around (but not right on top of us), and he totally ignored it.

The closest I ever came to death was a close encounter with lightning on top of a Colorado mountain one afternoon in July.  Several very close hits arrived in the same way:  a light buzzing sound slowly increased in frequency until it was a high-pitched whine, then the lightning would hit.  I wonder if your dog was hearing something similar that was higher in pitch than your ears could hear?

This is slightly sideways  – last January I walked the Frankland Range (Tasmania). There was wild wild weather for 2 days  – I sheltered on a shelf off the ridge.

Next day, when walking along the ridge, I came across some long, narrow trenches spreading down from a high point  – about 30m long or more. Im pretty sure there are no animals around there that would do that.

All I could think of was lightening. I looked it up later – may have been a ‘lightening trench’. Exploding steam from a lightening strike.

Has anyone else seen that?

Made me very glad I’d dropped off the ridge.

Photos???
Photos!

Cheers
PS: for only 2 days? You were lucky!

Wow, lightning trench?

edit: it was December last year (not January).

Herewith the photos – they are not great, I couldn’t capture the whole length of one. As I said, they were about 30 m/98 feet long.

There were small spots of charring – can’t see them in the photos. I had thought there should have been more charring if it was actually lightening, but the online photos I’ve seen of ‘lightening trenches’ aren’t all burnt-looking either. Most of the trench/s were roughly 20 cm (8 inches) deep – some parts deeper, some a bit shallower.

Ideas of what else it could be (for those of you familiar with Tasmania of course :D) ?… a determined, high altitude echidna???? Maybe I’ll post on bushwalking.com

(2 days of wild wild weather, one of merely wild weather and the rest were pretty good – yes, lucky :) )

Looks like the track of a Lesser Spotted Scoparia weegle-bug.

Cheers

I am not googling any insect that could make that trench. Just sharing.

I am not googling any insect that could make that trench.

Hear, hear!

The longest recorded strike in the USA is 515 miles.  From here near Dallas TX, to Kansas City MO.  Over 7 seconds.  2017.   Verified by satellite in 2025.

Our now senior dog doesn’t like loud noises.  He used to go hiking at LBJ Grasslands with me but someone is always shooting out there.  He’d hear that and head back to the truck.   He’s 95 pounds and has some sled-dog gene’s in him.  He’s pulled me to the ground twice when he flushed a rabbit and I didn’t get braced.   When storms happen, he goes into the bathroom.  That’s what mom taught him to do, take cover.   But now he’s a senior and has hearing loss.  Some days he still hears some stuff.   A few weeks ago he and I were out for an evening walk.  There were storms around.  We were heading home but there was a decent rumble of thunder and the lightening detector at the sport fields we were near was flashing and beeping.  I figured I was going to be pulled home.  He didn’t even hear it.

Lightening can be very unpredictable and strike many miles from the storm.  Lets go hiking anyway.

Max is going to have some good stories to tell.

I recall watching the lightening while standing on top of a freshly built fireplace holding a 20′ bar of steel straight up in the air so I could drop it in the cells. Get er done. Probably not too smart.

I had friends in Woodland Park who had it come into their house through the porch light.

Another friend got hit sitting under a tree in Tustin.

You may as well be out in nature where it’s safe.