Today the family and I drove to Table Rock. It was kind of overcast and hot and when we finally got up to the parking lot there were rumblings of thunder in the distance. We started up the one mile trail that takes you to the top of the mountain and we met a hiker coming down. He told us that he had seen lighting and that he was not going to mess with being up on top of the mountain.
After a slight hesitation on my part, we continued on.
After the rocky one mile uphill hike we all arrived at the top safely and the kids really marveled at the beauty of the Linville Gorge. You could see the Linville River winding its way through the valley on its way to Lake James which you could also plainly see in the distance.
We ran into a man and his wife were we were chatting with. I was standing on a rock at the very top to Table Rock facing south and the wife and kids were sitting down right at my feet as we talked.
The sky was cloudy and we could see rain in the distance.
All of the sudden I felt the strangest sensation envelop me in a fraction of a second from behind- it was almost like a split second wind that came and went without warning. About one second after I felt that sensation we heard the unmistakeable crack of thunder which was extremely loud and extremely close. I immediately realized that I had just felt the jolt of a very nearby lighting strike. I wasn't the only one to feel it- every one else had the hair on their arms stand up and they felt it as well- but I think I got the brunt of it since I was highest on the summit. All the kids were crying and we scrambled to get down from the summit as quickly as possible.
The couple we had been talking to knew a short cut so we took that - the kids were scared shitless. We all walked down the trail back towards the parking lot with thunder clapping regularly around us. Adrienne was moving kind of slowly so I picked her up and she rode piggyback for a while then I put her on my shoulders. About 1/3 mile from the parking lot we got pounded by extremely heavy rains and the trail turned into a very swift running creek. We all got completely soaked. The nice man who we had met at the summit held Atticus' hand all the way down the trail and talked to all of us to keep us calm.
What a scary ordeal. I feel ultimately stupid for exposing my family to that kind of danger when I had a warning. You really have to respect nature and what can happen in a flash. We got very lucky today and will never forget and hopefully will make a better choice next time if ever we are in a similar situation.
