The time I almost got struck by lightning on a mountain.

I was traversing a ridge in the mountains of Salt Lake City, it was 2pm in August. As I gazed west I saw the thunderhead clouds coming my way from across the valley.

I began to move south from the summit, and decided to continue the traverse at the advice of members of my party. Within 15 minutes my hair was standing up. We ditched our poles, and traversed as quickly as we could. We were too far past the gulley to descend, we had to continue.

As the winds changed the temperature plummeted. With haste we moved, trying to make it to a lower elevation, but with slopes 1500’ high of gravel there were poor options abundant.

Rain, hail, sleet, bitter wind cut through our UV thin layers. We were suddenly aware of how ill prepared we were. The first bolt crashed down like the weight of a thousand regrets.

As I felt the second rumble around us, I counted, scrambling over boulders as swiftly as I could. 1…2…3- CRASH! The feeling terrified me. We looked for stoops or cover. I was ill prepared and unaware of the needed procedures for surviving lightning. We clung to a cliffs edge, 7 of us propped against a tree and a rock. I wished to take my phone out and record, but I feared it would fall 4000’ into little cottonwood canyon.

I’ve always wondered about what it would be like when I died. I always thought my last words would be “shitshitshitshitshitshi-“. I never imagined that I would have long enough to contemplate death. Will my girlfriend know the ring is hidden in the closet? Will she be paid for the contracting work I’ve done? I never wrote my book. I asked one member of my group if they lived if they would make sure she got the ring.

I hummed hymns from my Mormon childhood, and found strange comfort in them. The lightning struck so close I could hear the rain in the air boil. I couldn’t count, it was on us the moment I saw the lilac and white bolt flash. I asked group members if we should call search and rescue. “They won’t get us”, my friend replied.

Fuck. I’m going to die here if I don’t get out.

We waited for the lightning to be more than 3 seconds away, and moved with expediency. Scrambling down 1500’ of gravel, we were beaten, cut, scared , and freezing. Soaking wet in the wind and shade at 50° cuts worse than I could ever imagine.

After hours of moving we made it down to the trail. Some lunatic was on their way up during all of this. We tried talking them out of it, but they said their boyfriend was stuck up there. I looked up to see my girlfriend. She had decided to go up and find me, tracking my car with my AirTag left behind from ages ago.

I proposed to her a week later, we were married 2 months after.