Lightning Stories Anyone?

BLooDTRaCKeR

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Anyone have a good lightning story? I’ll be honest, lightning is the one thing that’ll keep me back at camp (now that I’ve had a few really close calls with the lightning demons).

I was hunting elk about 10 years ago or so. I was about 5 miles from camp, on foot, when over the top of this mountain came “the death cloud.”

Those of you not familiar with this cloud....it is almost black and rushes in with little time to think....especially when you are just off the top of said mountain that blocks your view of valley on the other side.

At first, lightning was arcing across the sky laterally. I was in with limited visibility. I got the feeling that I needed to put the 300 RUM lightning rod down and walk away from it. So I did. I sat down on a fallen tree and just waited for things to settle down. After about 30 seconds of sitting, I started feeling thousands of pin pricks all over me as the static electricity became thick!

Before I could think of what to do, I heard a loud whistle and then a BOOM! In that split second, I had managed to curl up into the fetal position UNDER the fallen tree. As I looked around, I quickly learned that a tree had exploded right next to my gun, which was about 15 feet from me. There were tree splinters everywhere.

After the encounter and lightning storm moving further away, I wasted no time heading back to camp to change my soiled clothes!

The pic is from the next day. I went back when it was clear and free of any further risks to assess the damage and relive the close call!

I am sure some of you have some good ones to share. Let’s hear em!

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I hunted sheep here in one of the ranges known for zapping climbers. All summer I thought I was going to die. :oops: The coolest bolt I saw up there was one that originated in the cloud above me (I was above 13k hiding in the cliff) and it went right over my head and hit the valley below me. Spooky.

A few years ago wifey and I were sitting on the back porch when a dry strike came out of the cloud over us and hit in the yard. For about a second there was lots of stuff going on. Giant sparks were arcing off of my gutters. They were also arcing off of my lab and her hair was sticking straight out. It was one of those strikes that hit in several trees at once. I can testify that lightning makes dust.

I worked a summer for a pipeline welder who had been hit. At the first sound of thunder we rolled up the cords and headed for the bar.
 
When I was a kid my dad's sheet metal shop was behind our house. Lightning struck the power transformer by the shop while he was using the spot welder. Sparks came from his elbows, knees, and the top of his head. It knocked him out for a while. He was sore for about a week.
 
We don't get lightning storms over on the Pacific coast like most places, so I have only had one experience.

I was working in a lookout tower known as Red Mountain. The regular guy had an emergency and needed 2 weeks off and I volunteered, like an idiot. :) I was 19 years old. I was told, in the event of a lightning storm, just estimate the number of strikes and report that to headquarters. Obviously watch for fire.

One night about midnight a storm rolled in and a lightning bolt hit the tower. I thought a bomb went off and it lit the place up like 4th of July and scared me to death. I smelled smoke. After I resisted the urge to abandon ship I got on the radio: "Fortuna, Red Mountain.....Fortuna, Red Mountain, I have an emergency. The tower was just hit by lightning." There was a long pause followed by dispatcher laughing. WTF?

Not until he explained the tower was protected by a lightning rod did I understand. I didn't see the humor in it at the time.
 
I have two phobias. Grizzly bears and lightning. I've been in too many lightning storms above tree line. One year we were hired to guide sheep hunter. For a few days before the season opened and for a couple days after the opener thunder storms were rolling in every few hours which kept us off the mountain. Finally the weather broke so we loaded up a string of horses and started up. We had to go over a 10450' pass. About 500' below the pass I looked over at the pass to the west and a huge black cloud was rolling over. When I looked back up to the pass we had to cross it was black as night. I knew things were gonna get wild any second. I bailed off my horse and tied him to a tree and told everyone else to dis mount and scatter in the boulders. We got all the horses tied off quick and crawled under boulders like scared bunnies. As the cloud rolled over us you couldn't see anything. After a couple minutes the cloud passed over and we were looking up at blue sky. About 500 feet below us all hell broke loose. It's pretty impressive watching dozens of lightning bolts from above with blue sky over head. Another time I was guiding a deer hunter. We rode to the top in good weather. After a couple hours a storm came in from the south east. Within a few minutes it was a white out. My hunter started complainin, "When are we gonna go" I said be patient it'll pass. Well it decided to hang around a bit. He kept moanin about wantin to go so I made him a fire to warm up. A few minutes later BOOM. With the white out conditions you couldn't see where it hit but you could feel the concussion. I jumped up and said "It's time to go boys" Grabed my horse and started down the mountain back to camp. We made it in record time. The hunters were ribbin me callin me a chicken. I told em I didn't mind bein a chicken, I just didn't want to be fried chicken.
 
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Not hunting related, but I framed houses in college. On a Saturday morning, we were laying out lines for walls on a second deck using a chalk line. We always used red because it stayed better in wet conditions. I was on one end and the boss was on the other. Suddenly I felt my hairs tingle and stand up. The boss looked at me and asked if I felt that? It never struck, but we headed for the bar. I'd guess red chalk has a ferrous component to it.
 
I was working as a hired guy for a farmer while in college and we were fencing which with the t-storms in the area I knew we shouldn't be but he believed it had to be done that day. I was standing by the wire he had ahold of the fence stretcher when lightning hit the wire. It knocked him out and burned his leather gloves and left a hole in his boot where it came out. I checked and he was still breathing ran to the shop and called the ambulance. He had a few burns and a heart out of rhythm but survived it and I worked with him a month later. I felt the electricity but was untouched.
 
Showing my age. My dad’s brothers were knocked down, and a team of horses were killed while combining grain when lightning hit the combine. My son in law was knocked out last year when lightning hit his bale wagon he was working on.
 
One night in our tent on an elk hunt in Idaho a lightning storm rolled in. We started counting the seconds between the flash and the thunder. It rolled in from the south and went 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0, then moving off to the north 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 as it moved away. The 0 second count strike was from a bolt that hit a tree less than 10' from our tent. Too close for comfort. We sat in the truck for a while after that.
Once while backpacking in the Wind Rivers we were just at timber line when a lightning storm hit. We jumped under the last trees for shelter from the rain. As we looked around, it was obvious that every tree in sight had been hit by lightning. We debated on moving out from under the trees, but decided we would rather stay dry.
I saw a picture once of a whole herd of dead sheep on top of the mountain above Park Valley, Utah. The whole herd was killed by a single bolt of lightning. I hear the sheep herder poked his head out of the sheep wagon just as the lightning bolt hit and he was knocked out, but lived.
I have had a bolt hit within 100 yards while backpacking in the Uintas. It was raining hard, but it was dry for about 50 yards as we walked through the spot near where the lightning hit.
Another time lightning hit about 50 yards from a tree stand I was sitting in near Loga, Utah. It was about dark anyway, so that was the signal that it was time to go.
Our boy scout troop was camped two spots over from another troop in Camp Loll one year. Lightning hit one of their tents and killed three boys.
A guy I worked with had a son on a Boy Scout trip to Island Lake in the Uintas. His son sat under a large tree and watched the show for a while and then stood up to go and do something else. Another boy sat down under a tree in the exact spot he had just vacated. His butt hit the ground just as a lightning strike hit and he was killed. My coworker's son was a couple of steps away, and was knocked out, but survived.
 
I’ve seen it kill a 1,500 pound cow stone dead. Also seen it hit the transformer on the pole about 20 yards from my front door. Nasty ......... I hate it !
 
When we sailed the 35’ sloop from Fiji to Australia two years ago we went through two very intense lightning storms. Multiple bolts hit close enough there wasn’t any counting between flash and bang. How they missed our 53’ mast is beyond me
we had a go pro mounted in the companion way hatch for one of the storms.
 

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Moving 40 ft sprinkler pipes across a flat alfalfa field in a thunderstorm probably isn’t the dumbest thing I ever did as a teenager, but close. Lightning hit a power pole at the edge of the field, crossed the field,went down the pipe and shocked the crap out of me. Buckled my knees but nothing worse. I don’t like lightening.
 
here goes mine. I was 6 years old and my buddies mom was driving us to the park when the thunder starting rolling and the lightning striking! We were both in awe. That was the baddest ass Garth Brooks song either of us had ever heard. It was many many years later before we really knew what the thunder and lightning was all about. ?
 
Falling Timber for 20+ years...lightening starts popping you get your ass back to the pick-up. Personally saw a 5 ft ponderosa pine explode into a million match-sticks. God has awesome power..
 
Anyone have a good lightning story? I’ll be honest, lightning is the one thing that’ll keep me back at camp (now that I’ve had a few really close calls with the lightning demons).

I was hunting elk about 10 years ago or so. I was about 5 miles from camp, on foot, when over the top of this mountain came “the death cloud.”

Those of you not familiar with this cloud....it is almost black and rushes in with little time to think....especially when you are just off the top of said mountain that blocks your view of valley on the other side.

At first, lightning was arcing across the sky laterally. I was in with limited visibility. I got the feeling that I needed to put the 300 RUM lightning rod down and walk away from it. So I did. I sat down on a fallen tree and just waited for things to settle down. After about 30 seconds of sitting, I started feeling thousands of pin pricks all over me as the static electricity became thick!

Before I could think of what to do, I heard a loud whistle and then a BOOM! In that split second, I had managed to curl up into the fetal position UNDER the fallen tree. As I looked around, I quickly learned that a tree had exploded right next to my gun, which was about 15 feet from me. There were tree splinters everywhere.

After the encounter and lightning storm moving further away, I wasted no time heading back to camp to change my soiled clothes!

The pic is from the next day. I went back when it was clear and free of any further risks to assess the damage and relive the close call!

I am sure some of you have some good ones to share. Let’s hear em!

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I have a story ,but nothing good about it. Had a buddy hunting in Co. For elk struck and killed by it. Left behind a wife and two small kids.
 
DAMN BLooD!

You had To Ask didn't You!:D

Many of Close Calls with 'Gods Electricity' in my day!

None of them were Good!

Many Years ago!

One afternoon after work!

I Figured If I Hurried I Had enough Time To get to the Mountain for a Quick Hike During PISSCUTTER Muzz Season!

I Get up there & about a Mile & a Half away I Spotted 3 Bucks!

One was a True Shooter!

Ya,It's a Steep SOB!

Figured if I Hurried I Might get to them before Dark!

I got within about 500 Yards went in to Sneak Mode!

Then a BIG Black Cloud starts Rolling over the Top of the Ridge headed My Way!

1st Strike hits right near where the Bucks Were & They Scattered!

I'm Thinking ####!

A Few Seconds later another Strike Right in front of Me!

So Now I'm going down the Hill a HELL of alot Faster than I Went up it!

Wasn't just a minute Later & Another Strike right behind Me!

So I Start Zig Zagging But I Can't out run it!

The Next Strike Right In Front of Me as I Was Still running/Panting trying to get down out of there!

God or somebody must have been Watching & Laughing!

I Think one of My Lives Were Lost that Day!

Only one of Many Lightning Stories!
 
I started off my maintenance career working at Snow Basin ski resort. One Summer day we were all working at the top of Strawberry Gondola in the drive station. Lunch time came so we all went out under the Haul rope on the lower deck to eat.

We noticed a black cloud rolling up the Morgan valley below us. Lightning was popping off all over down there. Never been above a lightning storm until that day. We watched it until it hit the bottom of the resort. At that time, two mechanics (young and dumb, full of piss and vinegar) went stomping out to the hogs back and stood on the second highest point in that area. A minute or two went by with no indication that there was static electricity at our location and BOOM!

lightning strikes the breakover tower right above us. The juice travels into the drive station via haul rope and pops our SCR Drive for the lift. Another arc reaches from the break over tower out to the two mechanics on the hogs back and knocks them off the rocks.

It goes silent again. We look around and can’t find Jake or Mike. No one dares to go out to that point and look for fear of more lightning. After a couple minutes, the two come crawling back up the other side of the rocky point. One has a burn mark on his head where the button on his ball cap connected the secondary arc from the lift tower to them. And then a burn mark on his leg where the lightning passed through him to the other mechanic. The other Mechanic had burn marks on his legs where it entered and left.

They both described their bodies feeling like the day after recovering from the most intense workout you could imagine. They couldn’t stretch out their hands because tendons were retracted. They were both very sore and lucky to be alive.

The rest of us were lucky to be standing where we were, protected by the lift tower. It was crazy to see it hit so close. The secondary arcs were like a spiderweb, traveling out in every direction from the tower, trying to reach a good ground.

Those two punk mechanics are lucky to be alive!
 
Mine was in Utah on Jan Juan elk ridge elk hunt in the Abajo Mountains. We were just west of the “rock pile” and had hiked down to chase a few elk on my buddies archery elk tag.

We had hunted down hill all morning and when we reached the bottom of the canyon the hunt was over. We had a huge hike back out and I distinctly remember telling everybody to make sure they grabbed all there things because nobody wanted to hike back down into that hole.

We had a grueling hike back out and about two hundred yards (45 min after we started) one of my buddies realized he forgot his vest at the bottom. We continued to the quads and he turned around. We waited at the quads for about an hour and a half for his return. When we finally saw him coming back up (maybe 400 yards down hill) a dark black cloud started piling over the top of the ridge to the northwest. The storm really appeared out of nowhere. It had been a blue bird morning.

My other buddy and his wife took off on their quad towards camp. I had to wait about 5 more minutes for him. When he got to the quad we started back to camp immediately. We were camped on the flats down by Monticello lake. We had a 15 mile ride back. Within the first 5 minutes we had light rain. I thought to my self the 1/2 hour quad ride in the rain was going to suck. Within 2 minutes the sky was totally black and it was pouring. I thought it couldn’t get worse and we were going to be soaked and cold when we got back. About 2 minutes later it turned to hail. I knew it couldn’t get worse. We had at least 20-25 minutes back to camp, I was way too cool to wear a helmet or have goggles and it was nasty.

I really thought is was bad. As we hit the ridge by twin peaks (the open ridge above trees) the sky broke loose with massive lightning. All the hair on my body was standing on end and the static electricity was crazy. I swear I could actually taste it in my fillings. When we watched a bolt hit 50 yards in front of us we bailed off the quads and ran for the trees. We were stuck on a bald ridge above tree line in a massive hail and lightning storm. We hunkered under a small pine and simply hoped the number of trees would help lower our odds of being hit. The entire time I could feel the static electricity. We could hear lightning strikes near us but couldn’t tell how close they actually were.

After about 35 minutes the storm blew over and it returned to a lighter rain and the sky got a little lighter. We made a run for the quad after we had not seen any lightning for about 10 min. The static electricity had gone as well.

We never said a word for the rest of the ride to camp. I was sure my other buddy and his wife had been killed because I would have bet we were not going to make it.

When we got back to camp my other buddy and his wife were there. They were shocked that we had made it. They had hidden in the trees like we had. I know that you should not go into the trees during a lightning storm but really felt we didn’t have a better option. I am sure we would have been struck had we stayed on the ridge. The storm dropped a total of about 8 inches of hail. My other buddy and his wife had a doe run within two feet of them while they hunkered down. He said the doe was hauling butt down hill and it looked like she had her eyes closed.

To this day I am still shocked we didn’t get hit. I sold my quad after that trip. Had we been in a truck It would have been a super cool show. I think we might have even been better in a side by side but they were really new at that time. Lightning is still one of the only things that really worries me in the woods. Well now I hunt with my son so I have a entire new set of concerns.

To top it off...my buddy never found his vest.
 
I've always found it interesting how coyotes won't eat animals that have been killed by riding the lightning.

One day while I was serving my mission in the Philippines our concrete house with metal roofing was struck by lightning. It was the single loudest/scariest thing i've ever been a part of! I jumped up faster than a flat brimmer that see's a 18" 4 point.
 
Gods Electricity #2!

Me & a Friend were Headed to the High Uintah's to Hike Back in to Some Lakes for some Quality Brook Trout Fishing!

We Were Driving up the Road with Both Side Windows part way down & a Real Light Rain Hitting the Windshield!

About 80' in front of us & on the Right Hand Side!

SHAZAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Lightning Splintered a fairly Good Sized Pine Tree!

Broke the Windshield!

Wood Debri Flying & Landing everywhere!

We Rolled The Windows clear up after that!:D
 
I started off my maintenance career working at Snow Basin ski resort. One Summer day we were all working at the top of Strawberry Gondola in the drive station. Lunch time came so we all went out under the Haul rope on the lower deck to eat.

We noticed a black cloud rolling up the Morgan valley below us. Lightning was popping off all over down there. Never been above a lightning storm until that day. We watched it until it hit the bottom of the resort. At that time, two mechanics (young and dumb, full of piss and vinegar) went stomping out to the hogs back and stood on the second highest point in that area. A minute or two went by with no indication that there was static electricity at our location and BOOM!

lightning strikes the breakover tower right above us. The juice travels into the drive station via haul rope and pops our SCR Drive for the lift. Another arc reaches from the break over tower out to the two mechanics on the hogs back and knocks them off the rocks.

It goes silent again. We look around and can’t find Jake or Mike. No one dares to go out to that point and look for fear of more lightning. After a couple minutes, the two come crawling back up the other side of the rocky point. One has a burn mark on his head where the button on his ball cap connected the secondary arc from the lift tower to them. And then a burn mark on his leg where the lightning passed through him to the other mechanic. The other Mechanic had burn marks on his legs where it entered and left.

They both described their bodies feeling like the day after recovering from the most intense workout you could imagine. They couldn’t stretch out their hands because tendons were retracted. They were both very sore and lucky to be alive.

The rest of us were lucky to be standing where we were, protected by the lift tower. It was crazy to see it hit so close. The secondary arcs were like a spiderweb, traveling out in every direction from the tower, trying to reach a good ground.

Those two punk mechanics are lucky to be alive!
 
Hey tracker what years did you work at the basin? I patrolled there the winters of 02-04. One spring we got a warm wet storm storm roll through and were up doing avalanche control. Myself and another patroller headed for the avalauncher over on moonshine to shoot the sister chutes. The sky was that ominous color of black and the wind was howling. Well we climbed up on the 20’ steel tower (with a 14 ft barrel on the gun)and got set up to start shooting. Maybe halfway through our shots we heard thunder in the distance. We looked at each other and had a quick discussion. Protocol was for us to immediately abandon post and leave the explosives there and not come back until it’s been at least an hour since the last observed thunder or lightning. Nah, let’s just hurry and fire the rest of our shots, that thunder sounded far away, we’re fine! Well as I was loading the next round that whole gun tower started to hum. At first I just thought it was the wind but suddenly we both started feeling just heavy static in the air. Others in this thread have said the same thing, just an indescribable feeling of energy in the air. Oh eff this. We threw the rest of the explosives down into the snow and got the hell out.
Few years later I was patrolling in Big Sky and had the same thing happen while hiking out a knife ridge to do control work on some chutes in a raging storm.My skis were strapped together on my back and where the metal edges were touching just started to get that same humming noise. 15 pounds of dynamite inside that backpack.
If lightning freaks you out add explosives into the scenario and now your ready to party!
 
Hey tracker what years did you work at the basin? I patrolled there the winters of 02-04. One spring we got a warm wet storm storm roll through and were up doing avalanche control. Myself and another patroller headed for the avalauncher over on moonshine to shoot the sister chutes. The sky was that ominous color of black and the wind was howling. Well we climbed up on the 20’ steel tower (with a 14 ft barrel on the gun)and got set up to start shooting. Maybe halfway through our shots we heard thunder in the distance. We looked at each other and had a quick discussion. Protocol was for us to immediately abandon post and leave the explosives there and not come back until it’s been at least an hour since the last observed thunder or lightning. Nah, let’s just hurry and fire the rest of our shots, that thunder sounded far away, we’re fine! Well as I was loading the next round that whole gun tower started to hum. At first I just thought it was the wind but suddenly we both started feeling just heavy static in the air. Others in this thread have said the same thing, just an indescribable feeling of energy in the air. Oh eff this. We threw the rest of the explosives down into the snow and got the hell out.
Few years later I was patrolling in Big Sky and had the same thing happen while hiking out a knife ridge to do control work on some chutes in a raging storm.My skis were strapped together on my back and where the metal edges were touching just started to get that same humming noise. 15 pounds of dynamite inside that backpack.
If lightning freaks you out add explosives into the scenario and now your ready to party!
I was there from 99-04. Was Tim your boss? During operational months, Strawberry was my post. I’ve got many interesting stories from that job and sounds like you do too! I would still be there.....if they only paid more.
 
I don’t spook easily but lightning terrifies me. Years ago on a job site, we were hustling to finish setting some footings and get covered up before a snow storm. You could see the cold front rolling in with the dark purple colored clouds rolling backward onto themselves.
Coming across the building pad with three 20’ sticks of rebar crosswise over my shoulders, and each end dragging the ground, I started getting the pin prick zaps on top of my head from the button of my ball cap. It only took me a couple seconds to realize I was screwed so I dropped the bar and took out on a dead run across the pad with my guys looking at me like I was crazy as I ran past hollering “get the f*** out of here”. Luckily, they turned and followed me. We got just clear of the pad when it hit about 100’ behind us in a neighboring yard.
the whole ordeal lasted around ten seconds.
To this day, I still think I‘d have been the target if I hadn’t dropped those rebar sticks and ran.
 
Years ago we had a bridge deck hit, killed a couple of ironworkers.

i forgot that we were in a Bonanza flying from Grand Jct to Cortez when we got hit. We were right on top of the Uncompahgre. Thats more of a crash and burn thing though.
 
I know a guy that was struck by lightning while golfing. Killed him, but they were able to revive him after being unresponsive for about 10 minutes. He loves to hunt but as you can imagine wants absolutely nothing to do with lightning after that. His buddies that hunt with him think he is cursed now and believe that wherever he goes hunting storms follow.
 
St Elmo's fire twice while climbing in the Tetons and Wind Rivers.

Did have one fun trip up the old Porky lift at SB carrying a 12 pack of caps for the charges when lightning hit Mt Ogden.
 
I was there from 99-04. Was Tim your boss? During operational months, Strawberry was my post. I’ve got many interesting stories from that job and sounds like you do too! I would still be there.....if they only paid more.
Yup Frankie was my boss.....unfortunately! I’m sure our paths crossed many times. I spent about 12 years working in the ski industry 4 different resorts. Now I’ve spent the last 10 years digging myself out of the financial hole created by it!
 
Man your guys stories are crazy back in 2017 was one of my couple of crazy hunts. I was in my teepee single metal pole about 9’ tall. Lightning and thunder were roaring in probably 12am. It was frightening for a minute but figured my dad always said when the man wants you he’s going to get you. It went on for about an hour with strikes and thunder under 1 second a couple times. My buddy who sleeps in a cot tent slept in his truck a couple nights that trip.
 
Back in the late 70s I was skiing at Wolf Creek in Colorado. It was getting kinda windy, so they closed a couple lifts. I decided to leave a bit early. I made one last run, then heafed to my truck.

I went to the passenger side, opened up the rack, put the skis in and switched my ski boots for shoes.

I got in, just put the key in and heard a loud crack, then felt a tingle come through the steering wheel.

I got out, walked around and realized that lightning had struck my truck less than a foot from where I was standing only a minute or so before. It melted off or vaporized about a foot of my antenna.
 
Years ago in the 70's my cousin and my buddy and I were fishing the big hole on the upper Provo by Heber when a big black cloud came over us. We were into some good fishing so we kept on until the lighting strikes were right on us.
My cousin and I went straight away to the truck but my buddy form some reason ducked under a big tree and hunkered down.
We could see him from the truck and was watching him when a lighting bolt hit the tree he was under. Blew him about 15 feet and when he came down he was already running. The force of the bolt of lighting threw him but was one of the funniest things I have ever seen the way he was running before his legs hit the ground.
He said his hair was standing straight up right before the strike.
 

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