| Previous :: Next Topic |
| Author |
Message |
RumiDude
Marmota olympus
Joined: 26 Jul 2009
Posts: 3589 | TRs | Pics
Location: Port Angeles |
|
RumiDude
Marmota olympus
|
 Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:35 pm |
|
|
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
|
| Back to top |
  
|
|
lopper
off-route
Joined: 22 Jan 2002
Posts: 845 | TRs | Pics
|
|
lopper
off-route
|
Sat Sep 12, 2020 6:30 pm |
|
|
Yes, thank you for that video link. Love the Methow.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Brushbuffalo
Member
Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between |
I have had the fun of chatting with Lightning Bill at Goat Peak a couple of times during his time there. He had a friendly dog he named Lookout Turk.
If you asked Bill what it was like to be there during a lightning storm, he would say the same thing he says in the video: "It's like being inside a lightbulb!"
I can imagine.
Then he pulls out his book of self- composed lookout poetry.
Fun stuff.
(another time when another person was staffing Goat Peak, I actually startled awake the sleeping young firewatcher as I climbed the short flight of stairs. A large thunderstorm was brewing nearby). 
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Malachai Constant
Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
I spoke with the lookout on Miners Ridge about the lightning strik about 50’ Fromm the lookout. He was on the lightning stool away from the windows and stove. That did not leave much room.
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RumiDude
Marmota olympus
Joined: 26 Jul 2009
Posts: 3589 | TRs | Pics
Location: Port Angeles |
|
RumiDude
Marmota olympus
|
Mon Sep 14, 2020 11:27 am |
|
|
| Malachai Constant wrote: | | He was on the lightning stool away from the windows and stove. That did not leave much room. |
I talked to a lookout at Thorp Mountain and asked him if he had been through a lightning storm and what he did. He said he had been through several and demonstrated how he squated on the lightning stool. I then asked if that was tiring and he said "very tiring". I asked how long he has had to use it and he said a few hours but it felt like days. he also told me he once thought the storm was over so he got off the stool only to have lightning strike almost immediately about 150' away. He hopped back on the stool after that.
Rumi
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lopper
off-route
Joined: 22 Jan 2002
Posts: 845 | TRs | Pics
|
|
lopper
off-route
|
Tue Sep 15, 2020 7:16 pm |
|
|
Thorp Mtn Lookout:
I had a co-worker 30 yrs ago who had been a lookout on Thorp Mtn after returning from a stint in Vietnam.
He provided a very vivid description of sitting out lightning storms on Thorp. The blinding strikes battering the ridge-line in explosive fashion.
Our workplace was a necktie-wearing corporate bubble. Early 80s. His time on Thorp was the late 1960s. It was fun to reminisce about USFS employment. I don't think my blasting-crew stories were as riveting as his lightning-strike descriptions.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
moonspots
Happy Curmudgeon
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
Posts: 2456 | TRs | Pics
Location: North Dakota |
|
moonspots
Happy Curmudgeon
|
Wed Sep 16, 2020 7:26 am |
|
|
| Malachai Constant wrote: | | I spoke with the lookout on Miners Ridge about the lightning strik about 50’ Fromm the lookout. He was on the lightning stool away from the windows and stove. That did not leave much room. |
"Lightning stool"? Are you able to describe that to us (me)? Fiberglass or some other material? The entire stool or just the legs (or part of)?
Thank you
"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Malachai Constant
Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
The lightning stool is a small wooden stool about a foot high with glass insulators like old school power line insulators on the legs. Someone will probably post a pix. Things are pretty boring now. 
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
|
| Back to top |
|
|
texasbb
Misplaced Texan
Joined: 30 Mar 2009
Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics
Location: Tri-Cities, WA |
|
texasbb
Misplaced Texan
|
Wed Sep 16, 2020 7:43 am |
|
|
| moonspots wrote: | | "Lightning stool"? Are you able to describe that to us (me)? Fiberglass or some other material? The entire stool or just the legs (or part of)?
Thank you |
The one I've seen was a wooden stool, maybe 18 inches high, with glass insulators (like you see on telephone poles) glued upside down over the feet. Like this:
I can't imagine being on one for hours at a time.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
moonspots
Happy Curmudgeon
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
Posts: 2456 | TRs | Pics
Location: North Dakota |
|
moonspots
Happy Curmudgeon
|
Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:29 am |
|
|
| texasbb wrote: | | I can't imagine being on one for hours at a time.
|
Hmmm, interesting. Although I think this would be more "placebo" than effective. But, I have to admit that they ARE nice looking. 
"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
|
| Back to top |
|
|
moonspots
Happy Curmudgeon
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
Posts: 2456 | TRs | Pics
Location: North Dakota |
|
moonspots
Happy Curmudgeon
|
Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:35 am |
|
|
Nice! I really like this one!
"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
