Couple of Rescues this weekend

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Pure speculation is that he along with a lot of other folks got caught up above treeline on Saturday. Plenty of folks are willing to take the risk for nasty weather on summer weekends. Even the forecasters qualify their forecasts and say "no need to cancel activities, just keep an eye out for thunderstorms" I was in Milan on Saturday and although there were plenty of rumbles from 12:30 on, the actual storms didn't arrive until 2 PM.

It can take quite awhile to get below treeline in some spots on Crawford Path. Even the patches of scrub between Eisenhower and Pierce are really not adequate for true cover from a hard strike. I expect that it wasn't direct strike but rather a strike in the vicinity that got him. Individuals can get impacted for quite a radius around a strike. Recommendations I have read for hiking out west in groups is to maintain 1/4 mile between hikers if possible so if one get hit the others can respond. I have read reports of folks who have been in indirect hits and frequently they are in shock or just plain confused after a lightning strike and this can last for quite awhile. This may have been the case for this individual. People offered to help and he refused it, they apparently reported the encounter so authorities were aware but it would be hard to force someone to be rescued if they didn't want to be.
 
Over the past week we've had thunder, lightning and threatening grey clouds in Eastern Mass. One "storm" chased us back to our put-in on a Charles River paddle. For the most part, none of these storms materialized into any significantly wet weather though a few isolated areas got a short downpour and a couple of microbursts knocked down trees and limbs. Such is characteristic of a drought. Though generally much ado about nothing they are still a dangerous place to be as its the lighting that'll get you.

My wife and I were in a room of our house shutting windows during a storm several years ago when a lightnig strike bounced off a hemlock tree about halfway (30') above the ground and hit a doghouse dormer in that room. The explosion was deafening ... it aggravated my tinitis ... and separated the roof and the sidewall of the dormer by over a foot each from the main frame. We had no ill effects from the lightning though it did fry every electronic device in the house as well as the garage door opener 40' away (followed the wiring).

That hemlock tree was felled about halfway up and the dormer was charred by the lightning though there was no fire. The point is that we were within a few feet of that lightning yet had no ill effects ... though some people who know me might think, "Oh! that explains a lot!"
 
The guy still sounds stubborn... Why did he refuse help from others?
 
The guy still sounds stubborn... Why did he refuse help from others?

Didn't want to pay for rescue? (didn't buy his hike safe card ?).

A few years ago a VFTT member self rescued after a fairly serious foot or leg injury out of general principle.
 
The guy still sounds stubborn... Why did he refuse help from others?

Didn't want to pay for rescue? (didn't buy his hike safe card ?).

A few years ago a VFTT member self rescued after a fairly serious foot or leg injury out of general principle.

Ohh, I love this game. I'm guessing he came from a family that locked him in the basement and only fed him once a week. Once he broke free, he vowed to spend as much of his remaining time out of doors, free from the constraints undeservedly placed upon him as a child.

Or maybe getting hit by lightning messes you up a bit?

The speculation below mine involves encounters with wild animals...
 
Maybe he is a just a tough SOB who figured, I'm getting myself down no matter what.:mad:
 
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