Wicked Weather On The Mountain

 

Beautiful clouds after thunder storms - view from Pantops Mountain.

We expected our work trip weather yesterday to be hot and steamy. Fortunately, as we arrived at the tool shed, some clouds had moved overhead with a decent breeze blowing, so we were anticipating a reasonably nice day on the trail, one that wasn't 'heat exhaustion' weather.

As the Bear Spring crew worked on putting in a waterbar and rehabbing trail, we were under tree canopy for the most part (i.e. shade) and that little breeze continued to blow. In late afternoon, it suddenly dawned on us that everything (breeze, bird and insect noise) had gone dead quiet ..... that ominous 'still-before-a-storm' and it seemed to be getting darker. One of the guys asked "anyone heard any thunder"?  The answer at that moment was 'no', but it wasn't long before some very serious thunder rumbling was heard in the distance. At first, it seemed as if the storm was 'going around', but then it became unmistakeably apparent that we were going to get the storm on Humpback Mountain. Bear Spring is about half-way up the mountain ....... too high to be comfortable in a big thunderstorm, although being out in the mountains during a storm, regardless of elevation, is never "comfortable".

We rushed to finish up the water bar and get all the tools loaded up. A text (at 3:48) to the Trail Maintenance Supervisor let her know we were headed out and leaving Bear Spring 'right now' so she would have some idea of our location and also that we were aware of the storm bearing down on us and taking precautions. One of the guys made the comment that if the lightning got bad, the 5 foot iron rock bar he was carrying might get 'thrown down the mountain' ..... more on this in a minute.

The thunder became more intense and then the lightning started up ..... serious lightning. We'd see the white flash and then crrraaaccckkkkkk! Another maintainer was on the Glass Hollow overlook and had a good view of Humpback Mountain. He could see the dark storm clouds coming over and several lightning strikes. Since our crew was more or less "in it", we definitely heard it and saw the flashes, which were alarmingly close. We didn't run, but were moving rapidly, trying to get to lower elevations. All of us, over the years on the trail, have seen large trees with the evidence of lightning strikes .... shredded bark, split tops, splintered trunks. Every time we passed very large trees, we could not help but hope lightning didn't happen to strike that tree at that moment! With severe lightning all around, it was time to get rid of those "personal lightning rod" rock bars ...... they got stashed in a safe, easy-to-remember spot and we'll retrieve them off the mountain at a later date, in better weather.

The rain finally came. No rain gear was donned (although we had it) ..... the cool rain felt good after a hot, sweaty day of work and more importantly, we all had dry, clean clothes to change into. Cameras and cell phones did need to get put into plastic bags and stowed in our packs (a good reason to have a couple of zip lock bags on hand for this purpose). Water was running down the trail as the rain was fairly heavy. The painting crew near Dripping Rock got the worst of the rain ..... said the water on the trail was like a river and their boots rapidly filled up. They also said at one point the rain drops were so big and heavy, it sounded like hail hitting the tree leaves. The Rockfish Gap crew got the thunder and lightning, but no rain - thunder storms are quirky that way.

At the exact time we finally arrived at the Humpback Rocks Parking Lot, the rain stopped. Blue sky was visible and the sun was coming back out. The summer storm was over almost as quickly as it came. As the work crews gathered back at the tool shed, there were a lot of wet, dirty folks with a 'storm story' to tell, but the best part of the story was the happy ending: no injuries either from the storm itself or from the hurry over slick wet rocks, sloshing through 'rivers' of water, and navigating muddy spots to get off the trail ........ all work crews accounted for and safely out of the woods.

 

Possible storm over the mountains - view from Pantops Mountain.

Note:  no actual storm pictures .... too much tree canopy, the camera was in plastic/in the pack, and frankly, in the middle of a T-storm with severe lightning and heavy rain is not the time/place to be stopping and taking pictures! The cloud pics on this post were taken from Pantops Mountain at the Tip Top Restaurant. They are post-storm which made for some dramatic and beautiful cloud formations.

 ~ Merlot

(All photos: Merlot)