The monsoon season has started early this year. EVERYONE is talking about it. It's in the papers daily and a common source of conversation these days. Steve and I have experienced being in several thunder and lightning storms that resulted in HAIL. Hail hitting the car so hard, we thought someone was throwing rocks! Earlier this week, we were outside walking and got drenched by the rain twice in one day....but that pales compared to what happened today!
We showed up at Sechrist Elementary School to do a Flagstaff Walk About with Jack Welch. We took off shortly after 5 PM. Crossed the street and hiked some of the FUTS trail, working our way up to the Loop Trail. A little beyond the halfway point in our hike, we felt the first sprinkle of rain and heard the first thunder. Soon, we saw the first flash of lightning and the monsoon rain began. Oh my God!!! We were actually in the middle of the storm!!! There was vertical and horizontal lightning all around us. And the rain just poured and poured. There was not choice but to continue. We had brought rain coats but it was so warm when we started the hike, Steve and I BOTH did not listen to our intuitive voice and left them in the car! BIG MISTAKE! We were soaked to the skin and sloshing in our tennies in minutes. Suddenly, a ball of lightning hit the ground nearby. The sound was deafening! We continued; stunned we could be in such an dangerous position. The rain had turned the path into a river and it was getting harder and harder to navigate. FLASH and BOOM, another bolt of lightning hit a tree. You could smell it. Further down the trail, we saw pieces of the tree, blown to bits! We continued on, finally got down the Observatory Mesa trail, turned right onto a paved sidewalk but now it, too, was covered in rain and mud. We were seeking shelter! We got to the Thorpe Park Adult Center for cover and ended up calling a cab to take us back to our cars. There was no way we could walk another 1.25 miles in the rain. The driver arrived pretty quickly and was in good spirits considering the storm. He had no problem fitting 6 sopping wet people and a dog in his van. No doubt we left puddles on all the beautiful, soft upholstered seats. He was just glad he could get us safely to our cars!
It was a walk we will remember forever. And even though we did not complete the walk, we went 4.75 miles! I had an awesome time. Do it again? Not on purpose but it certainly evoked our spirit of adventure. Thank you Jack Welch AND Mother Nature!!
PS: I said it was like an E ticket at Disneyland. Steve thought it was more like an F ticket and you can imagine what his F word was!!!!!
We showed up at Sechrist Elementary School to do a Flagstaff Walk About with Jack Welch. We took off shortly after 5 PM. Crossed the street and hiked some of the FUTS trail, working our way up to the Loop Trail. A little beyond the halfway point in our hike, we felt the first sprinkle of rain and heard the first thunder. Soon, we saw the first flash of lightning and the monsoon rain began. Oh my God!!! We were actually in the middle of the storm!!! There was vertical and horizontal lightning all around us. And the rain just poured and poured. There was not choice but to continue. We had brought rain coats but it was so warm when we started the hike, Steve and I BOTH did not listen to our intuitive voice and left them in the car! BIG MISTAKE! We were soaked to the skin and sloshing in our tennies in minutes. Suddenly, a ball of lightning hit the ground nearby. The sound was deafening! We continued; stunned we could be in such an dangerous position. The rain had turned the path into a river and it was getting harder and harder to navigate. FLASH and BOOM, another bolt of lightning hit a tree. You could smell it. Further down the trail, we saw pieces of the tree, blown to bits! We continued on, finally got down the Observatory Mesa trail, turned right onto a paved sidewalk but now it, too, was covered in rain and mud. We were seeking shelter! We got to the Thorpe Park Adult Center for cover and ended up calling a cab to take us back to our cars. There was no way we could walk another 1.25 miles in the rain. The driver arrived pretty quickly and was in good spirits considering the storm. He had no problem fitting 6 sopping wet people and a dog in his van. No doubt we left puddles on all the beautiful, soft upholstered seats. He was just glad he could get us safely to our cars!
It was a walk we will remember forever. And even though we did not complete the walk, we went 4.75 miles! I had an awesome time. Do it again? Not on purpose but it certainly evoked our spirit of adventure. Thank you Jack Welch AND Mother Nature!!
PS: I said it was like an E ticket at Disneyland. Steve thought it was more like an F ticket and you can imagine what his F word was!!!!!