SPRINGDALE, UT :: After a full day of hiking Bryce Canyon and Zion, I pulled into a commercial campground in Springdale, just a few miles outside of the Zion gates. I setup my tent in a nice site along the Virgin River and enjoyed a long, hot shower. Afterwards, I found a burrito place within walking distance. The photos of the MRE contents are what I had the night before in a Bryce Canyon campground. Tonight, I deserved something fresh and warm. I watched a fierce thunderstorm roll across the horizon as I enjoyed my meal.
Then the winds started to pick up and it became apparent the thunderstorm was slowly moving towards us. I ran back to my tent, knowing it wasn’t staked down too well. Kids were screaming and I could hear things being blown across the campground. I was in my tent, spread eagle with my hands and feet in each corner to prevent the thing from flying away. Then the rain started, and shortly after, the interval between lightning flashes and thunder was non-existant.
For about thirty minutes I listened to the storm slowly move on, wondering if aluminum tent poles were conductive. My tent was probably the shortest in the campground, and I figured a lightning bolt would strike one of the multi-room tent mansions before me. Fortunately, the lightning bolts stayed in the hills. Afterwards, I only heard the river beside me and fell fast asleep. I was up before dawn for a drive to Las Vegas and a flight back home.
Then the winds started to pick up and it became apparent the thunderstorm was slowly moving towards us. I ran back to my tent, knowing it wasn’t staked down too well. Kids were screaming and I could hear things being blown across the campground. I was in my tent, spread eagle with my hands and feet in each corner to prevent the thing from flying away. Then the rain started, and shortly after, the interval between lightning flashes and thunder was non-existant.
For about thirty minutes I listened to the storm slowly move on, wondering if aluminum tent poles were conductive. My tent was probably the shortest in the campground, and I figured a lightning bolt would strike one of the multi-room tent mansions before me. Fortunately, the lightning bolts stayed in the hills. Afterwards, I only heard the river beside me and fell fast asleep. I was up before dawn for a drive to Las Vegas and a flight back home.
