Discussion: not as much fun

... but my garmin has navigation stuff on it, like it can display the track and point you back to the start etc. I've used it running in Swedish forests at night without a map.

I think mine has some of that stuff too, though I've never bothered to try it.

I'm quite amazed/appalled by my thought process, or lack thereof.

I imagine it's just due to the date. Did you do something silly April 16th last year?

Actually, I'll take this year and today's foolishness over last year, when I wasn't running at all due to heel problems. So far this year I've been lucky. The heels have hurt a little but not much. I've been staying away from road races in the X-Talons, and I think that's made a difference. Now I'm running mostly in Nike Pegasus, used to wear them for years with good results.

There certainly was a point when I was evaluating the possible scenarios, and it was raining harder and feeling colder, and I was telling myself, don't do anything really dumb.

Well I have to admire your ability to remain cool, and resist doing something that made the situation worse...such as bailing out down the west side of that 500' hill to the mapped bridge and Hwy 112. And then a long road run back to your car in the rain.

Weather in that region can be severe. I once was caught on the same Vermont state line, but on the Appalachian Trail a bit west of you. Immediately upon backpacking uphill into Vermont from Williamstown, MA, my girlfriend and I were caught in a massive summer thunderstorm. I've never been so scared - huge lightning bolts seemed to be raining down all around us, as we tried to find refuge on that barren rocky summit. At least you didn't have electrocution to worry about today.

Nice story, chitownclark. It reminds me that Rhonda, Zack and I were camping in the Smokies a few years back and got caught in a remarkable thunder and lightning and all day killer downpour up on a ridge line. We had intended one more day of hiking the ridgeline and camping, before heading back, but we skedaddled. Still took us about 4 hours in pouring rain, looking up nervously at the trees swaying along the trail. Some pretty mighty ones were uprooted in our path and we had to climb around them. Glad to get back to the car intact.

You and I, Charlie, also had a close encounter with a lightning strike on top of Loveland Pass sometime back in the 1990s.