Worst Thunderstorm: Hot Springs to Flint Mountain Shelter

After we stocked up on some extra calories in Hot Springs we hit the trail again. The weather continued to be really dry, but the water sources weren't bad - so we enjoyed the nice weather. We started coming across ripe blueberries at this point which made for some delicious trail side snacking.

A view from Lovers Leap overlooking the French Broad River

The next two pictures are from Blackstack Cliffs.
Firescald knob was an area that was once burned and now its pretty open (which provides nice views) and the rocks were covered in rhododendrons and blueberry bushes full of fruit.

After crossing over firescald knob the weather got really dark so we took out our raincoats and in five minutes the skies had cleared. Later in the day we made it to Jerry's cabin shelter to find a dry spring, a dirty shelter and lots of bugs. The skies were getting cloudy which could have meant a source of water but judging by earlier in the day we figured the ominous clouds would sinply pass over with no rain so we decided to keep moving. Over the course of the next two miles the skies got progressively darker and then without warning it began to pour - literally. A severe thunderstorm had set in, the trail had become a river, and we were soaked. We should have done the smart thing and walked back down the mountain to find a place to hunker down but we were cold and decided the best way to stay warm was to keep moving. We eventually made it to a clearing and the storm seemed to have calmed down a bit so we began making our way across the open field (I think it may have been Big Butt). Once we were about 50 meters in we were taken by surprise by a snap of lightning and the deafening roar of thunder. Before I could scream out run we were already moving as fast as humanly possible with soaking wet packs through 3 inches of water. Lightning was popping all around us as we sloshed trough the soaking wet grass. Shortly after we made it across the 200 meter or so clearing the storm began to subside. It was both frightening and exhilarating at the same time - an experience I'll never forget. Afterwords the forest was covered by a cloud of mist and we hiked on to the next shelter while talking about the death defying experience we had both had. I know they say your chances of being struck by lightening are really slim, but I wonder what the chances are when you are standing in an open field at 3000 feet in a severe thunderstorm? The shelter ended up being nearly full - we took the last two spots. Fortunately there was a group of men there that had built a fire which allowed us to dry out some of our stuff. They also had brought along some whiskey which was much needed after the 7 miles we did after being soaked by the rain.
Above is a picture of Shelton Graves taken after the storm.