When I was about 14 my scout troop decided that we would go for 5 day trip to the Adirondacks, driving one day there, and one day back would give us 3 days to hiking and camp out in the cottage we had rented.

Our cabin was located with in hiking distance of the Haystack mountain peak, the 3rd tallest peak at the Adirondacks. Our plan was to hike out to Big Slide the first day, then tackle Haystack the second. The first day was perfect. A cool summer breeze floated thought the mountains. We started out early in the morning and got back late in the afternoon.

The second day started out much like the first. Bright blue skies, cool breeze, a perfect day in the Adirondacks. We started our day long trek, and the closer we got to the summit it seemed the faster we traveled. We made or way up some extremely steep slopes and finally rested before tackling the last push up to the summit.

That's when a man wearing a large back pack came bounding down the trail. He was just coming down Marcy where he said he had noticed a front coming in. He didn't know how far off it was, but suggested we ether push up the mountain now, or go back home. Our decision was unanimous, we hadn't walked for hours to turn back right at the summit. So we started the last push up the mountain, up a very steep slope and finally to the top.

There before us was one of the most picturesque sites any of us had seen. We could see for miles, and just as we were about to grab lunch we hear rumbling in the distance. The wind was starting to pick up and we started to notice the clouds were getting closer, and moving quick. Then one of us felt a drop of rain, then another. It was slow at first, and we all decided we should probably start moving back down the trail.

That's when we saw the first flash of lighting hit a nearby mountain. That was enough for us, it was time to leave. The wind was whipping around us now and out plastic ponchos were flapping around as it started to hail. Now hail I could deal with, but the wind was becoming so strong the hail was traveling horizontally.

We quickly started weaving through the space 4 ft trees trying to get some amount of protection from the elements, all of us ducking trying to be as short as we possibly could, after all, being the tallest thing on top of a mountain during a thunderstorm is not the best thing in the world.

As we were about to hit the pat the would take us down the summit we hit a group of hikers and told them it would probably be best to turn back. But, much like us, they said they had come all this way and didn't feel like turning back. Just as they finished another bolt of lighting struck an adjacent mountain peak. The next thing we knew the two groups formed into one that was quickly making it's way down the mountain, down the path that was quickly becoming a rushing river of mud.

We made it back safely, everyone of us was soaked completely, and caked in mud. And after we had gotten a hot meal, we realized that we had brought a portable radio, and we just never checked the weather forecast before heading out.