KipCarson
Well-known member
I do love a good storm, not a soft spring showers kind of storm, but the window rattling toad strangling kind of thunderstorms that makes sane people cringe. The louder and crazier the better. My wife thinks I’m nuts but I have taken the stance that since there is nothing I can do to stop it, why waste time on worry. I do get annoyed with tornado warnings but only when my wife decides to interrupt my peaceful sleep to tell me about them.
Sitting in here in the sweltering heat, scanning the horizon for rain clouds that the extended forecast tell me will only ever be a figment of my imagination, got me thinking about a nice storm from a few weeks ago. Out on the wind swept plains of Eastern Wyoming I knew that it would be on average windier than what I am usually dealing with. With that in mind I ditched the regular tent stakes and came prepared with some 1/2“ x 18“ long stakes that would most certainly not be pulled out of the ground. I also thought ahead and chose a camp spot where I had a drift fence to help tie the tent off to. Unfortunately the downwind side of the fence was very unlevel and overgrown so I set up on the upwind side of the fence. At least it would help catch the tent and stop it from being blown clear to Colorado, should any real storm hit. All was going good, until on day evening as the sun was getting low we saw a very ominous storm barreling down toward where camp was pitched, and remember the windows of the tent were unzipped. A mad 10 mile race to the camp ensued and we beat the storm by only a couple of minutes. The windows were quickly zipped up, but it mattered little because the force of the wind hit and within 5 minutes of the time I took this picture the tent poles were snapped and we watched as it was flattened to the earth by the wind and the ping pong ball hail. Although it goes against my grain to stay in a hotel on a hunting trip it was a welcome amenity and I was sure glad we were only 13 miles outside of town. The truck only took a few tiny hail dents and the next day we were able to get the tent poles splinted with extra arrows and gorilla tape. Besides broken poles the rings sewn into the bottom corners had been stretched almost to the breaking point. It was a new family sized tent on its inaugural run and I’ll say it performed terribly, but then again that’s what you should expect when you pay as little as what a tent like that cost I guess! I’m just glad I had the forethought to bring some real stakes or we would still be looking for that tent.
In short, the days when the weather is perfect quietly fade into the background of memory but days that end like that will never be forgotten!
If you have any great storm pictures or weather stories post them here, I’d love to see them!View attachment 36667614-C09F-4E0A-9BF8-992100E28E4F.jpeg
Sitting in here in the sweltering heat, scanning the horizon for rain clouds that the extended forecast tell me will only ever be a figment of my imagination, got me thinking about a nice storm from a few weeks ago. Out on the wind swept plains of Eastern Wyoming I knew that it would be on average windier than what I am usually dealing with. With that in mind I ditched the regular tent stakes and came prepared with some 1/2“ x 18“ long stakes that would most certainly not be pulled out of the ground. I also thought ahead and chose a camp spot where I had a drift fence to help tie the tent off to. Unfortunately the downwind side of the fence was very unlevel and overgrown so I set up on the upwind side of the fence. At least it would help catch the tent and stop it from being blown clear to Colorado, should any real storm hit. All was going good, until on day evening as the sun was getting low we saw a very ominous storm barreling down toward where camp was pitched, and remember the windows of the tent were unzipped. A mad 10 mile race to the camp ensued and we beat the storm by only a couple of minutes. The windows were quickly zipped up, but it mattered little because the force of the wind hit and within 5 minutes of the time I took this picture the tent poles were snapped and we watched as it was flattened to the earth by the wind and the ping pong ball hail. Although it goes against my grain to stay in a hotel on a hunting trip it was a welcome amenity and I was sure glad we were only 13 miles outside of town. The truck only took a few tiny hail dents and the next day we were able to get the tent poles splinted with extra arrows and gorilla tape. Besides broken poles the rings sewn into the bottom corners had been stretched almost to the breaking point. It was a new family sized tent on its inaugural run and I’ll say it performed terribly, but then again that’s what you should expect when you pay as little as what a tent like that cost I guess! I’m just glad I had the forethought to bring some real stakes or we would still be looking for that tent.
In short, the days when the weather is perfect quietly fade into the background of memory but days that end like that will never be forgotten!
If you have any great storm pictures or weather stories post them here, I’d love to see them!View attachment 36667614-C09F-4E0A-9BF8-992100E28E4F.jpeg
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