D'arcYurt's Build Thread

[Bob Rowlands]

Back in about 1980 or so my wife and I went on a hike in Yosemite national park, to an overlook in the high country. Peaceful blue skied summer day, and of course absolutely spectacular high sierra scenery. A hundred yards or so from the overlook we passed under a huge tree, maybe three feet in diameter, that was leaning over the trail. I remember thinking that sucker was gonna drop soon. Sure enough while hanging out, enjoying the view, having a snack, that tree toppled over the trail with a huge crash. *BOOM!!* Incredible!

Another time we were in Yellowstone park and hiked a couple miles in to a backcountry lake. Again, it was a beautiful day at the outset of the hike. We had reached the lake and were having lunch when the weather very abruptly changed from beautiful to nasty wind and rain storm in maybe fifteen minutes, and rapidly intensified. The wind was like hurricane force as we beat feet back down the trail hauling @$$ to the car. We were leaning into it and buffeted about. Really weird. Lodgepole pines were crashing down in the forest all around us to where we were actually concerned about getting hit. Sounds funny but it wasn't funny at the time.

Also, had a large whirlwind which is a mini tornado, come roaring up on our house. The noise rapidly intensified in a few seconds I thought a jet was about to crash. We live right next to the AF Academy airfield. I jumped up as the roar went straight over the roof of our house. Never heard anything like this, ever. Not knowing what it was, I ran to the dining room window and saw the funnel had just jumped off the roof and was spinning like a 100 foot tall top wobbling to the east in our backyard, DIRECTLY towards my yurt. It hit it. The yurt jumped up a foot, the cover instantaneously expanded like an atomic bomb went off in side, and then did the reverse sucked tight to the frame. All in an instant. This was before I built the deck the yurt sits on. Wall lath were broken, yurt cover OK. Good thing I had the yurt anchored to concrete piers in the ground otherwise it would have been the second yurt destroyed by Ma nature.

Lastly, last year our house was hit by lightning. *BOOOOOM!!!!* The bolt hit the roof, eleven feet above my wifes head. She was soaking in the bathtub at the time. Absolutely amazing.

Also, got caught in an electrical storm climbing 14ers with a couple friends here in CO. Within a few hundred yards of the summit our aluminum pack frame was singing, rocks were singing, all body hair standing straight up, blue crackling glow everywhere. Lightning bolts hitting within a hundred yards, no lag time for crack boom it was instantaneous I could see the strikes. I just curled up in a ball and prayed I'd see my family again. That was singularly the most terrifying experience of my entire life. Emptying a cylinder full of .44 mag slugs over a Grizzlies head in Alaska backcountry came in second. lol