Lightning Rod

Lightning Rod

The clouds gathered, big black roiling clouds. Then came the thunder. Some of the hairs on the back of my hand tingled.

“Let’s get out of here!” I yelled to John. “This storm scares me.”

We were on top of Electric Peak. This is a bare, rocky summit about of about 11,000 ft. And it’s not somewhere you want to be in an electric storm.

“Don’t be a weenie. This’ll pass. Give it a few minutes.”

I scanned the surroundings. Nothing but rocks and scree as far as you could see, which was about two feet in any direction.

“I think we need to get down, not be a lightning rod.” And with that, I headed down the trail.

“See you later, scaredy cat!” John stood shaking his hands at the clouds. Suddenly simultaneous lightning and thunder sent me to the ground. Heavy rain started as I looked for John. ‘See you later, indeed.’ He was nowhere. Not a sign of him, not even his shoes. The man had disappeared.

All the way down the trail I had John on my mind. Finally after four hours I reached the bottom where I gathered the rest of my gear and headed for the campsite a few miles away. It would be a long night. What would I tell his family? ‘Oh, sorry, John got struck by lightning, then disappeared.’

The tent and packs were still at site 1G3. I lowered my pack from the bear pole, lit the camp stove and fixed dinner. As I ate, I felt John’s presence. Almost like he was nearby, telling me it was alright. He had decided not to leave, he was happy.

Suddenly there he was. “Hi Randy.” Scorched, no shoes.

“What the….?”

“Darndest thing, Randy…..Do you believe in aliens?”

W/C 297


https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/7017495/electric-peak