[Gocamino] Lightning - was hiking sticks/poles

[Richard Ferguson <peregrino@att.net.]

I have attended a number of talks related to lightning,  so let me offer a few 
tips:

1. The time between the flash and the sound gives the distance.  It is 5 seconds 
per mile.

2. You do not want to be the tallest thing in the area.  Nor do you want to 
stand under the only tree in the area.

3. Most lightning deaths do not occur due to direct hits, but nearby hits that 
induce ground currents, that is, currents flowing through the ground near the 
lightning strike.  The ground current can flow through your body, stopping your 
heart.

4. Since ground currents are the biggest threat, you do not want to be spread 
out on the ground.  The standard recommendation is to crouch down on your heels, 
with your feet together, and no other part of your body or equipment touching 
the ground.  Don't hold hands with your loved ones.  One speaker suggested that 
running was the best thing to do; after the laughter stopped, he explained that 
when you run you only have one foot on the ground at a time, so you are 
protected from ground currents.

5. The inside of a car is about the safest place to be, the metal body becomes a 
kind of Faraday cage.  Buildings are generally regarded as safe.

If I thought that the storm had gotten very close, I would take off my pack and 
crouch down as described above.  If I was in a group I would try to spread out.  
I would probably prefer a forest to open country, but that is not always an 
option.

Richard


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Hathor821 at aol.com
> I don't know Rosina....I am happy and have lots of good  stories to tell 
> which means my life is a wonderful history book....maybe one day  in my golden 
> years my grandchildren will go to sleep with the adventures being  told to 
them 
> by no other than me, the one who had them.  Anyway, just a  question that is 
> rather unusual.  How is the weather by the end of next  month in Roncesvalles 
> and all the way to Santiago?  What to do in case of  thunder...other than 
> praying and asking for a ride to the next town...any  advice?  are there any 
> little 
> huts with a roof for 'peregrinos' other than  the alberges.
>  
> Warm regards,
> Patricia
> >From Miami
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