Only 1 time, but that was enough for me.
When I saw the weather report I was ready to cancel. 60% chance of thunderstorms. My only other experience with hiking in the rain with lightning was the night I took Ken most of the way to Stewart falls. We never made it because the sky turned into a lacework of electricity and the thunder came before the flash was over. The cracking sound made me think my eardrums would bleed. All the way down the mountain I was kicking myself and apologizing to him for almost getting us killed. The only good part was the fact that he had to hold my hand or risk sliding down a ravine.
I don't like hiking in thunderstorms.
Luckily today there was no thunder or lightning. There was rain, but not enough that a jacket and cap couldn't keep it at bay. The hike was difficult but worth it. The area in completely covered in boulders. Some bigger than houses I've lived in, but individual rocks just the same. Between the boulders was green! There were trees! Oh, how I've missed trees! There were not as many as there would have been if this were Utah or Texas, but it was so much better than just shrubbery.
As we climbed the mist got thicker and thicker until we could barely see 5 feet in front of us. We stopped for a breather almost every other step. Eventually we reached the top which, as it turns out, was less than 2 miles from where we started. I really need to get in shape.
The point is that it was a beautiful way to spend an afternoon. The rocks, the trees, the mist, the brownies!, and laughing our way up and down a mountain. It is so good to have friends and places like that to share with them.
