It’s a wonder I am still here. I came pretty close to being struck by lightning.
Yesterday I ventured out to nearby Holder Mine to do a quick hike on the Citrus Hiking Trail A Loop. The loop is about 8.5 miles, according the the Florida Trail Association. Now I have been out here a bunch of times before, I used this loop as a good trail running area before my Santos bike crash..
I strapped on my trusty Golite 24 pack, loaded up on water, packed a few snacks, and got on the trail. About 3 miles down the trail a raincloud starts rumbling, but it didn’t seem to be too bad, so I went on about my business. Things rapidly go downhill from there, and I end up getting caught in the worst storm that I have ever been in while hiking.
I’ll admit I was a little unprepared for the soaker of a storm that I encountered. Luckily for me, I had an old packcover to another pack and my hammock/rainfly with me. I wrapped up my phone and camcorder in the rainfly and jammed it down into the stuffsack. I got everything back into the pack (which by the time I stopped the pack was soaked, but not the contents) and draped that huge packcover over everything. It looked like a huge green cape.
Sloshing down the trail, the weather began to deteriorate even more. It was raining so hard the the trail became a stream, washing leaves and pine needles to either side. Then the lightning started, followed by hail. Lightning struck twice so close off the trail you could feel the static. Twice these bolts hit nearby, and twice I almost ruined my North Face shorts, if you know what I mean.
I don’t mind hiking in the rain; actually I rather enjoy it. It’s refreshing and if you are on a long hike during the summer months it really helps to cool things down for a bit. What I don’t like is bad lightning and hail and carrying trekking poles strapped to my pack. Seems like they might serve as wonderful lightning rods, and being vaporized while hiking doesn’t sound like too much fun. Other than the bad storm, the trail was in good shape, well maintained. I saw three deer, a hen turkey with some babies, two gopher tortoises and about a bazillion horseflies. Bring along the bug juice on this hike to keep the biting flies at bay.
I made it around the A loop to tell the tale. But I’ll never be as ill-prepared for a Florida storm like I was on this occasion. Next time I’ll make sure to bring Ziploc bags, a correctly fitting pack cover or poncho, and possibly a diaper. You know, just in case of lightning.
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