I'd like to bring forward the discussion on lightning safety that was causing considerable thread drift in the Make Your Own Gear forum on MYOG trekking poles.

For starters, here's the excellent NOLS article on lightning safety that Lori cited on that thread.

It's generally considered a good idea to get off high exposed places before lightning gets close. In the Rockies, that generally means getting on the trail early so you get off those high ridges, passes or peaks by shortly after noon. If a thunderstorm is brewing, go down as fast as you can!

My closest call with lightning was when I was 20 and horsepacking with my parents in northern Colorado. One of the pack horses' packs was unbalanced, turned over and ended up under the horse's belly. She was a really sweet horse and just stood there looking pitiful until we got the pack off. With a less amenable horse, a rodeo would have ensued. While we were repacking, a bolt of lightning hit about a mile in front of us. When we got to the area of the strike, we saw a large Engelmann spruce tree (they have diagonal grain), freshly split into numerous sharp-pointed chunks 6-20 feet long, all embedded in the ground at least 3 feet. We quickly realized that if the horse's pack hadn't turned over, we would have been right by that tree when the lightning hit! For you Coloradoans, this was along the Continental Divide just east of Steamboat Springs. The stricken tree was right at the junction of what is now the Continental Divide Trail and the side trail west to Long Lake and Fish Creek Falls, north of Fishhook Lake. That area consists of a forested plateau with a number of lakes. For Northwesterners, that area is very similar to the Indian Heaven Wilderness Area in Washington.

Since then I've had a very healthy respect for lightning!

If you are stuck in a high exposed area when a thunderstorm hits, it's probably a good idea to get away from your pack (if it has metal or carbon fiber stays) or your trekking poles or tent poles. If you're not in an exposed position, you probably don't have to worry about pack stays or tent poles. Try to go lower to camp if at all possible.

Out here in the Pacific NW, we consider a severe thunderstorm any that has more than two lightning strikes for the whole storm. For those of us who know the Rockies, that's laughable. The Midwest and the Rockies have REAL thunderstorms which those who grew up in the Pacific NW can't imagine!

Even out here with our wimpy thunderstorms, people are killed by lightning, some as much as an hour after the storm has passed over. Please respect the power of lightning and stay safe!