Thunder boomed as I hurried down the Cape Royal trail with a little girl my shadow if there’d been sunshine. She asked excitedly if I’d be giving my geology talk and that she didn’t want to get struck by lightning as she clutched her Junior Ranger book. I needed to see where the storm was headed and was surrounded by junipers and pinyons until I reached the end of the .3 mile trail. No rain yet fell but I could smell it coming. The storm was headed towards us coming fast from the southwest as the monsoon thunderstorms do. I snapped a few photos, almost tripping on my shadow. As I paused near the rim a group of nervous yet inquisitive visitors gathered around me and my new friend. Then I noticed the short hairs on her head stand out from the gathering static electricity in the air and told her to move away from the rail. I told everyone to head back to the parking lot and they wanted to know if I’d still give the geology talk so I told them to gather by the small cluster of bathrooms. Wouldn’t be the first toity talk I’ve given. As I hurried back towards the parking lot I stopped people from continuing down the trail and recommended they wait about 25 minutes when the storm would likely pass. It was barely raining so I gave the talk in the parking lot. An exciting day on the Walhalla Plateau watching lighting at Grand Canyon.
To view skies from around the world go to Sky Watch Friday.
