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RE: [at-l] trip report, I-40 to Hot Springs



>>

Sometime early Saturday morning a thunderstorm came in. The floor of
Groundhog shelter vibrated with each clap of thunder and each sheet of
rain that blew down Deep Gap. The shelter is facing perpendicular to the
gap so little rain got in. Once, the lightening lit up the gap enough for
me to see my food bag hanging side ways in the wind!
By daylight the skies had started to clear up and the morning hinted of a
great day to hike over Max Patch.


<<
Just a note of caution for shelters in that area. The shelter maintenance 
crews tack a metal strip to the floor of the shelter at the edge. I guess 
it's to ward off chewing animals and wear. In lighting storms it can act as 
a conductor.  We met someone in Hot Springs last summer that was knocked 
out from a bolt of lighting hitting near the shelter. He was lucky. His 
feet weren't touching the ground. A couple of others hikers sitting on the 
floor watching the thunder storm ended up in the hospital.

I'm not sure if the protection provided by the strips is worth the risk.

Fallingwater

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