Where I mainly hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, there is frequently afternoon (and sometimes before noon <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) thunderstorms. The rain doesn't bother me too much and if I'm at a lower elevation I'll just hike through it, usually packing my clothes, sleeping bag, and other stuff in plastic garbage bags and putting on a poncho and the rain clothes. But I usually find myself above tree-line when the clouds move in, and the flashes of lightening around usually convince me to shelter up. Many times I've been sitting in my shelter to have a flash of lightening go off way too close, and there I find myself, in harms way, but very glad I'm not out there walking through it like a human lightening rod.