1/17/2024 0 Comments Gorilla hail arkansasAs I am drifting off to sleep I am startled by a loud SNAP! at the opposite corner of the tent. I am exhausted and personally for me the roar of the winds and the drone of the constant rain/hail mix actually make for good sleeping. I am feeling confident, cozy and warm with my weather proofing efforts. In-spite of the creases and pockets of the stiff poncho collecting pools of rainwater, it did manage to keep me and my bedding fairly dry during the storm.Īs the winds continued their powerful but sporadic bursts I rolled over and attempted to get some sleep. As I unpacked it in the frigid night air the otherwise pliable poncho was now a noisy sheet of stiff plastic that struggled to lay flat over my camp bed. Luckily I had purchased an inexpensive Wal-Mart brand camo rain poncho for the trip. This helped but I was still being constantly misted through the screen. To avoid the spray I moved my air mattress to the center of the tent. A wet sleeping bag was going to make for a long miserable night in the approaching cold. Splatters of water were now finding my face, pillow and bedding. The almost horizontal driving rain was now intent on finding its way into my tent via the screened windows and rain fly cover. The wind was getting increasingly more powerful as I watched my thin walled shelter yield more and more to the breath of the storm., yet after each violent gust the fiberglass tent poles would promptly return to the tent to its upright position. Coyote, blackened to a crisp, white eyes blinking in a dazed stupor, while holding the skeletal remnants of a charred, still smoking umbrella. As I thought about the consequences of our camp location(on the peak of a ridge top), I got a vision of the comical Wile E. The darkness was constantly interrupted by flashes of light followed by near instant cracks of ear piercing thunder. The rain had now given way to a torrid of marble sized hail that was now pounding the roof and walls of my tent. We all knew the weather in Colorado was unpredictable but none of us were prepared for these temperatures in September. The temperature was falling and forecast to drop below 20 degrees by morning. This was the first night of my highly anticipated annual bowhunting reunion with elk hunting partners Mike, Wade and Tim. I sent a text message to my wife Teresa that we were in a storm at 10:22pm. It was as if I had gotten zipped up into some wacky carnival thrill ride where I could only guess what was about to be revealed as the storm crawled over us. The tent was struggling to protect me and my gear from the cold rain and gust of the night time storm. Using my flashlight, I peered out from the warmth of my sleeping bag to watch the rapid flutter of the thin fabric tent walls. The cold front brought the storm in fast and unloaded what seemed like gale force winds against the walls of my 3 room tent. Colorado Bowhunt September 18 -26, 2009 Story by Jim Taylor
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