David Shedd, my partner in Easternslopes.com, and I had scheduled a quick overnight getaway to the hills to test a new tent and some other gear. In the past, we typically would watch the weather and do these overnights last-minute when the forecast looked good. But, the pressures of work and family have intensified for both of us and our schedules are less flexible. So we pick dates ahead of time and we go, weather or not.
In this case, the weather forecast looked . . . not great. A gaggle of warm and cold fronts were wobbling and lurching overhead like a bunch of toddlers learning how to walk and the weather geeks were pulling their hair out. A pre-dawn computer check said the morning would be sunny, the afternoon, evening and overnight cloudy with occasional showers. One site predicted as much as half an inch of rain and another mentioned the possibility of an isolated afternoon or evening thundershower.
A little rain isn’t a big deal if you’re prepared for it. Even if the weatherman says there’s zero probability of precip, we generally go well prepared for the rain experience. Weather forecasters, after all, have been known to be wrong.
With rain in the forecast and a tent we weren’t familiar with, we went even more prepared than usual. In addition to the brand-new 3-person Carbon Reflex 3 tent from MSR we were trying, we threw in an 8.5 x 10.5 foot waterproof tarp and a 150 feet of lightweight nylon cord. My old tarp and cords weigh almost 2 pounds. The new siliconized nylon tarps are half that weight and gain almost nothing when they get wet.
Tarps are useful when you are camping in the rain. You can pitch the tarp and set your tent up under it so the tent stays dry until the fly is on. Then, use the tarp to shelter gear that won’t fit in the tent. If your tent fly leaks, you can add the tarp over the top for more protection.
We hit our campsite and immediately strung the tarp between four trees. As we tied the last knot, the sprinkles started, so we pulled our packs underneath and set up the new tent. It’s a beauty—well made, only 5½ pounds, roomy enough for two guys in comfort and a third in a pinch, with two doors which make it easy for two people to use and a covered vestibule at each.
By the time we had the tent fully up and moved to a level, well drained spot, the passing shower had passed. With raingear ready we headed out for a little hiking. Naturally, it stayed dry . . .
It didn’t rain again until dinnertime, and then only lightly. Under the shelter of the tarp, we heated healthy venison stew on one of two the new stoves we were trying out (stay tuned for more articles on camp cooking, stoves and cookware), ate, sipped wine, listened to the wind in the trees and the sprinkles on the tarp and got ready for bed.
An hour after we hit the sleeping bags, the fireworks started, first as flickers of light on the tent fly followed by distant rumbles we could almost feel more than hear. The wind picked up, the rain intensified, and the lightning and thunder seemed to park right on top of us.
For the next four solid hours we had heavy rain and constant lightning. And I do mean constant–there was NEVER more than a second or two between flashes. Most of it seemed to be cloud-to-cloud—but at least two bolts landed within a quarter mile of our tent site, not really a comforting feeling. Still, it was an amazing show and the MSR Carbon Reflex 3 tent stayed absolutely bone dry inside. Did I mention that this is a great tent!
I’ve never experienced a lightning storm as intense and prolonged as this one. If the weather guys had gotten the forecast right, we’d probably have stayed home and missed a once-in-a-lifetime experience. By all means watch the weather forecasts, then prepare for worse weather and go have fun.
Lightning Safety While Camping
Lightning isn’t something to fool around with, but, in my opinion, it isn’t nearly as big a hazard as the weather geeks would have you believe. You’ve heard the saying: “when thunder roars, go indoors.” Well, it ain’t that easy when a storm brews up at night when you are in a tent several miles from any road. Besides, the only two people I personally know who have actually been hit—indirectly, but still hit—by lightning were indoors when it happened.
How realistic is it to worry about getting struck by lightning? Not very. According to the National Weather Service, over the past 30 years an average of 58 people die in the U.S. each year from being struck by lightning. The same agency reports roughly 20 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in the U.S. each year. No wonder someone getting hit by lightning makes the news
Still, I’ve had lightning strike within a few hundred feet of me nearly a dozen times over the years and I’ve actually seen both a huge pine tree and an electrical transformer being literally blown to pieces by lightning strikes, so I’m not entirely ready to pooh-pooh the possibility of getting hit and the consequences of it.
So here’s what I do when thunder roars.
I definitely don’t want to be the tallest object around, even though lightning doesn’t always strike the tallest object. If you don’t believe this, check out this storm-chaser blog for some amazing photos of lightning striking wherever it darn well pleases.
Still, if I’m on or in the water, I get to land as fast as possible. If I’m on a high hill or a ridgetop or open ledges, I head for lower ground. If I’m in the open or among very tall trees, I head for low trees or brush preferably on lower ground. I still believe I’m safer down low.
Other than that, I just sit back and enjoy the show, figuring that short of bolting for the car, my only option is to ride it out. The other night, with lightning snapping overhead for four hours, I was able to lay back (on a Z-Lite foam mattress which should provide some insulation from a nearby strike, right? Maybe?), watch the flickering light play on the tent fly, and occasionally doze off until a particularly loud thunderclap would wake me, usually within a minute or two of dozing off, and let me watch the show again. You don’t get that kind of experience if you run inside and hide every time lightning flashes.