The eye of the tempest.
This was the lodge that Darlene and I were privileged to have been able to stay in while we visited the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon, thanks to my friends Vicky and Charles Littleleaf.
When we arrived to erect the lodge the sun was out and the occasional cloud was a welcomed break from the sunshine. Once the lodge was finished the clouds thickened and a storm of epic proportions moved in on us. Wind, rain and one inch diameter hail fell all while bolts of lightning struck in the hills surrounding us. At one point the lightning was directly overhead but didn’t strike the ground around us.
The storm itself lasted well into the night time allowing us the opportunity to photograph it fairly easily. I heard that there were from 1500 to 1700 lighting strikes that night in Warm Springs alone. With the dry weather this could have been disastrous as the fire situation in Central Oregon has been perilous. The good news was that it poured rain. I mean it poured! Of the precipitation I enjoyed the hail the most. I had never seen hail so large. It was easily 1″ in diameter. I was caught in it at one point and I can attest to the fact that when a 1″ hail stone hits the top of your head it hurts. lol 😀
Later in the day Darlene and I hid inside of the tipi and had some snacks while the storm raged until we realized that the rain had stopped and it was completely quiet outside. Darkness had come while we were dodging the weather and so we didn’t realize that the weather had changed in almost an instant. When we peaked our heads outside the lodge door all we saw as a blanket of amazing stars with the Milky Way stretching over the top of us like a crystal archway.
Darlene and I were able to get a couple pretty nice shots of the stars before the clouds moved back in on us signalling to us that it was time for sleep. What an incredible experience.
Vicky felt bad that the weather “ruined” our stay, but I tried to explain just how special it was that it happened. I always look for high adventure but never realized that it would find me on this particular day. I tried my best to explain to them just how special the storm was to me. Charles realized it though. He told Vicky that we were lucky to have experienced it.
I love my life and love the people that are a part of it these days.
Thank you Vicky and Charles.
This is a single exposure of two lighting strikes.