Our original plan for sometime has been to do Highland Mary Lakes this weekend (Thanks to Jesse's great trip report on that area, we've been intrigued for some time). But I have a few stupid questions. My wife is a little worried about being above treeline, including camping, this time of year due to the liklihood of thunderstorms and lightning. Since we've never actually camped in a situation where you are above treeline without any hope for a respite from the storm, does anyone have advice about how to deal with storms at a place like that?
Yeah. Don't camp above treeline. I've had the same concerns as yours for years, Brian. I try to at least have an "out" not too far away if I do pitch a tent on the tundra. Having said that, people camp above treeline all the time and you never hear about anyone getting struck. I've wanted to camp at HML, too, but have so far not gotten up the nerve. (It's nothing but wide open tundra, although there are rolling mountains surrounding the basin.) I say, take two tents, pitch them about half a mile apart, and thereby reduce the already small odds of getting struck by half. Just make sure she's on the uphill side.
edit: If you're going this weekend, you'll likely not be alone, so you can play the odds even easier and still sleep in the same tent as the mrs.
Also, I'm thinking about camping on top of Notch Mountain later this week. But you can bet I'll make sure the shelter hut up there is accessible in case of storms before I venture up to the top of a 13,000' peak to spend the night.
the other aspect beyond lightening is the possibility for flash flooding. You need to consider an out for that as well. Even if there isn't a stream nearby, in open Tundra the water will come very quickly if you get dumped on out there.
Posted by Todd Caudle on June 26, 2006 at 10:04 PM
Not really a problem at HML.
Posted by Jesse Speer on June 26, 2006 at 10:43 PM
You don't really deal with such storms. A little knowledge and preparation (how to choose a site) can make a stormy tundra experience more tolerable. My advice ... do some research. If you you're camping in a bad storm (colorful lightning, hail and immediate thunder), you're probably going to "deal" by crawling in your tent, sitting on your inflated pad/packs and waiting it out. Hopefully, you've picked a spot in a depression, or with surrounding objects higher than your tent. Or you can speed down the trail to treeline and wait it out (which might not be a bad idea for the even the nastiest summer storms, as you won't sleep anyway).
There are some nice, deep depressions along the trail below the first lake - just above treeline. Probably the safest place for alpine camping.
Otherwise, stick to the base of the hills on the western side of the valley/lakes.
Or, play it safe and choose one of the forested campsites - which aren't THAT far from the lakes. Your wife might enjoy the peace of mind going in.
Posted by Jack Brauer on June 27, 2006 at 11:35 AM
Personally, I would camp up there without much worry. It's pretty hilly and I don't think it would be too hard to find a depression spot to camp, like Jesse said.
I camped at HML last summer. We had a little bit of lightning, but A LOT of snow! It was a really wet snow from a cool front coming through in the afternoon. I had to get out of the tent several times to knock the snow off the rain fly so we didn't have a cave in! The snow lasted about 20 mins so that was fun.
In terms of the lightning, we tried to chose a decent campsite that was in a lower area as Jesse pictured. We had higher rock outcroppings around us, but you never know what is going to get hit.
Discussion
6 repliesedit: If you're going this weekend, you'll likely not be alone, so you can play the odds even easier and still sleep in the same tent as the mrs.
Also, I'm thinking about camping on top of Notch Mountain later this week. But you can bet I'll make sure the shelter hut up there is accessible in case of storms before I venture up to the top of a 13,000' peak to spend the night.
http://www.nols.edu/resources/research/pdfs/lightningsafetyguideline.pdf
You don't really deal with such storms. A little knowledge and preparation (how to choose a site) can make a stormy tundra experience more tolerable. My advice ... do some research. If you you're camping in a bad storm (colorful lightning, hail and immediate thunder), you're probably going to "deal" by crawling in your tent, sitting on your inflated pad/packs and waiting it out. Hopefully, you've picked a spot in a depression, or with surrounding objects higher than your tent. Or you can speed down the trail to treeline and wait it out (which might not be a bad idea for the even the nastiest summer storms, as you won't sleep anyway).
There are some nice, deep depressions along the trail below the first lake - just above treeline. Probably the safest place for alpine camping.
If you're going to camp above treeline, a site like the one pictured below is your best bet ...
http://www.aroundcolorado.com/trip_reports/2004_0902_Highland/photo_pages/photo_30.html
Email me if you want more details.
Otherwise, stick to the base of the hills on the western side of the valley/lakes.
Or, play it safe and choose one of the forested campsites - which aren't THAT far from the lakes. Your wife might enjoy the peace of mind going in.
I camped at HML last summer. We had a little bit of lightning, but A LOT of snow! It was a really wet snow from a cool front coming through in the afternoon. I had to get out of the tent several times to knock the snow off the rain fly so we didn't have a cave in! The snow lasted about 20 mins so that was fun.
In terms of the lightning, we tried to chose a decent campsite that was in a lower area as Jesse pictured. We had higher rock outcroppings around us, but you never know what is going to get hit.
Good luck!