ABear and I had been planning to take a few days off trail around my birthday, but we weather has gotten so bad we got off early, at White Pass. Coming down off the Knife’s Edge, exposed and at altitude, a serious electrical storm rolled in.
At one point, when I looed outside I could see St. Elmo’s fire, like faint blue sparks stretching skywards, calling to be struck by lightning. You could hear a faint hiss and feel the static electricity before the strikes, the air was so electrified. The thunder was so loud it would have ruptured our eardrums, had we not held our mouths open. In the morning many of the smaller trees around the tent had been blown down, and small fires were burning where lightning had struck.
I’m normally a little unnerved by thunder and lightning, but this totally terrified me, reducing me to tears. So rather than stick out more lightning storms and deal with the sodden and soggy aftermath, we headed into Seattle. My apologies to everyone who stuck it out.
Also, totally not my photo. This photo of Mt. Rainer was taken by ABear earlier in the day. I was rendered a sobbing, shaking mess, curled in the corner of the tent and paralyzed by fear, wondering whether I should be warm and dry, but near the tent poles and packs, or outside and exposed.
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