Well, this is terrifying.
Imagine enjoying a day hiking in the wilderness only to have a storm roll up and ruin your day. Now imagine that beyond the rain, you and another hiker both get hit by lightning in the middle of it.
That's what happened to two hikers in Arizona this week.
From 12 News in Arizona:
Two hikers have been rescued after they were struck by lightning on Humphreys Peak, near Flagstaff, on Wednesday afternoon, according to authorities.
These folks, who didn't know one another, were on the top of the highest point in Arizona when lightning struck, making their rescue a very difficult task for emergency workers.
'It's obviously 12,600 feet plus to the peak at one point when your hiking up to that point the treeline ends and as you continue with your hike or as we would continue with our rescue you're the tallest point traveling on that trial [SIC] during a storm and during lightning so that lightning will shut down those rescue efforts until it's safe to travel again,' said a representative with the sheriff's office.
They had to take UTVs part of the way up the mountain, and then head out on foot during the storm which prevented the sheriff's office from using their chopper to extricate the hikers.
While the rescue was successful, the condition of the adventurers, one local from Flagstaff and the other Canadian, has not been released but they were fortunate to survive.
From AZFamily:
The Coconino County Sheriff's Office confirmed to Arizona's Family that crews responded around 11 a.m. to two people struck on Humphreys Peak. Rescuers said one man's phone was thrown about 30 yards by the strike, but the other was able to use his to call for help ...
The first man, a Flagstaff resident, had a heartfelt reunion with his wife, who had been waiting all day with crews for her husband to return.
I'm not sure what the weather forecast for the day was, but I am sure that these guys will be doublechecking the weather app before going out in the future.
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