Tuesday, March 11, 2008

2008 Camping Trip


We had our annual guys camping trip this past weekend. What a blast! As typical of our camping trips, we arrived in the rain and cold. Saturday morning we awoke to lots of rain and worried that we wouldn't be able to make the hike. After breakfast, hoping it would clear up, we headed over to Old Rag mountain for our day hike. We started out with a very cloudy sky that turned over to a beautiful blue with lots of sunshine! Then, as we were close to the summit, the sky turned black and we all heard thunder. We paused for a bit as the lightning came in and were surprised at what happened next. Hail. Yes, that's right, Hail. The four of us are now cowering near and under a huge boulder for shelter. I mention that we should wait it out, knowing that the high winds would blow this over rather quickly. Sure enough, after about 15 minutes the storm was gone and the sky was blue again. Rainbows are absolutely breathtaking on the top of a mountain. At the top we really got to feel the 50+ mph winds. Nearly blew us off the rocks at the summit. Well, the weather wasn't done just yet. Sleet was next, followed by snow. So in a 6 hour span, we got to experience almost every form of precipitation. Here are a few pictures until I can finish up my slideshow.

Our cozy home for the weekend
That's me, taking in the beauty
Yes, that's Pea Sized Hail!
You just can't make this stuff up!
I'm on top of the world! (well almost, see below, we still have a little left to climb)
Kimmick giving his sponsors some face time
Here I am, taking shelter from the sleet and wind while we eat

2 Comments:

greyhound said...

OK, I hear camping, and then I see the Taj Mahal--a building. Hmmm.

Nice rainbow though, and beautiful pictures. Looks like lots of fun.

Mama said...

Isn't Mutton Top the best?!