Discussion: You're weekend looks almost as good as

CO's!!
I'm sure his was better since he got to go with you ... vs you having to go with..... :-)

Good times & beautiful place!

Ha, ha! Well, I guess that could be debated. I can be a real pain to hang with.

We're both a pain to hang with: I always want to do too much, but Carbon always wants to be on time for things. (I have to admit: it would suck to get hit by lightning from a storm that we were stuck out in, or missing the helicopter flight for our duffle bags, and having to run out with them...)

Getting struck by lighting would be a bad day.

Will got caught in the lake during a wicked storm here a few weeks back. Hard keeping the boat on the water and zero visibility but he made it back (half by luck)
Then we found out some roofers who were working on the lake took shelter on shore from the lightning and hail... only to be chased back out into the water because of all the trees crashing down around them.. they decided to take their chances lying in the bottom of the boat out in the lake!!

Yikes! A Tillsonburg man was killed by lightning on the weekend while mowing his lawn. The storm wasn't too bad at the time but the weather guy reminded folks that you can get struck by lightning when the storm is still 20 km away.

What a an awesome weekend you two had! We have to do it again soon, please!!!! :)

As we were running out, I was thinking "Myka would love this". Yep, we are already keen to do this again sometime.

@Bash: don't tell Carbon things like this! You aren't helping! ;)

Unless you want to keep your wife and vice versa. In that case, I'm helping!

Bash isn't saying anything I don't already know. One of the bad places to be during a lighting storm is at the edge or just outside the storm where lighting strikes often occur. I struggle with lightning safety because very few people I have met here cares or respects lightning. If I even mention anything safety wise, most of the time I just get remarks suggesting that I'm being overly silly or people claim ignorance. It's not convenient to take measures I suppose. Nobody wants to cut their activities short or stop for a while to wait the storm out in safety. I have stopped saying much now as I just feel dorky, and when I want to do something to try to ensure my own safety I will regardless of what others chose to do. But now it's known that I dislike being caught in lightning so people tend to really point it out to me. People carry bear spray. I bet more people are killed by lightning each year than by bears. I guess I shouldn't say that without checking on stats, but I'll take a risk on this. In Colorado more people die or are injured in lightning strikes than by avalanches. And look how much effort is going into staying safe in avalanche terrain. Just sayin'.

Don't feel dorky:) I always feel safe when I run with you.

Don't feel dorky; your (our) views are based on science and statistics. You're correct that your risk of being killed by a bear is much lower than being killed by lightning, yet few people take mathematics into account when considering their fears. You're a very rational thinker so it's not surprising that you have concerns about lightning. I'm surprised so many otherwise-rational adventure racers *don't* take lightning seriously! (To be fair, a statistician would advise you to stop road biking, which is far riskier than bears or thunderstorms!)

According to Environment Canada, "...it is estimated that each year on average in Canada, there are between nine and 10 lightning-related deaths and up to 164 lightning-related injuries." Typically, there are 1-3 bear fatalities in Canada each year.

Furthermore, you usually have more control over a bear encounter, e.g. you can decide to back away to give the bear space, you might use your bear spray, you can make noise and travel in groups, you can avoid trails where others have seen bears. There is little you can do about lightning other than removing yourself from the situation. There are a few techniques to slightly reduce your chance of getting hit but you aren't safe unless you are in a vehicle or electrically grounded shelter.

I remember one adventure race where the race started with a paddle section and I could smell ozone in the air. The storm hit soon afterward and we pulled off the water, as per the rules (not to mention our own safety rules). Soon we were in last place as every single one of the other 90 teams continued on. Even the safety motorboat came to ask us why we had stopped. Duh.

A close friend from the AR world lost his brother to lightning when their family was at a canoe campsite. Two physicians were present but nothing could be done. That hits close to home.