Lightning Storm High In The Mountains example essay topic

As I was lying in bed recalling the event happened an hour before I was thinking to myself that I will never look at lightning the same way again. Thunder and lightning was still present in the night sky as I lay there in bed thanking God I was alive and well. Each flash of lightning lit the entire room and each clap of thunder rattled the windows of my hotel room. Lightning can seem much more terrifying when you " re up 20,000 ft in the mountains, and the thunder sounds a lot louder too. The sound of nature's fury seemed to slowly descend as the night went on, but my nerves did not. I was still stunned and in shock of being stuck in a lightning storm high in the mountains.

I never thought about the power and damage lightning can inflict upon its surroundings. It was summer 2001 and we had been invited to attend the wedding in Colorado for one of our friends. The wedding took place on a mountain top in Keystone, Colorado. The wedding reception also took place in the lodge on the mountain top. The mountain top was about 20,000 ft about sea level. In order to get there you had to ride two gondolas.

Each gondola sat about six people and would carry on up the mountain and down the mountain and down the mountain; much like a ski lift. Each ride lasted about 15 minutes. The wedding was a success, and it was one of the best weddings I've ever attended. The reception went all into the night. Laughter and conversation could be heard yards away from the lodge. I spent a lot of my time outside enjoying the beautiful scenery.

I could see mountain tops, tree tops, and even a little snow for miles. Soon the moonlight illuminated the scenery. As I was standing on the balcony admiring the scenery something finally went wrong, a huge black cloud covered the moon. I soon heard the thunder. It seemed to be nothing to worry about, so I didn't acknowledge it. A few hours later the thunder grew louder and I could see the flashes of lightning headed our way.

I went inside to inform my parents of the weather, but they didn't seem to worry about it much until the cloud was almost over the lodge. My family and I left the reception alone while everyone else stayed in cover; they were the smart ones I thought. We left quickly walking fast and practically running toward the gondolas so we wouldn't be stuck on the mountain all night long. By now the storm was close and so was the lightning.

The people at the station loaded the four of us into a gondola and we slowly worked our way down the mountain. Hanging in this tiny box of metal by a hook on a wire cable was not the most reassuring thing. I looked out the window hoping to see the ground, but it was too dark. I could barely see the hand in front my own face.

Lightning would flash, and all I could make out were the tops of trees. Paranoia overwhelmed me. My breaths seemed to become further and further apart as time slowed. As I was trying to relieve my mind of worst case scenario, a big flash and enormous rumble sounded. We stopped moving. Our gondola had stopped and the wind was swinging this tiny device back and forth about the tree tops at about 15,000 ft.

I had swallowed my tongue in my gasp of frightened breath. I was silent, my brother was praying under his breath, my mother was screaming profanities at God, and my father was silent. None of us moved thinking if we did we'd probably be destined for death. I could hear the howling of the wind and the clapping of the thunder. I looked down and prayed to God that we would survive. I could see the lightning striking behind us; it was striking trees and the ground.

It was swift and quick, you never knew where it was going to hit next. I had it stuck in my mind it was going to strike our gondola. It already had, because we stopped moving. I was panicking thinking we would be stuck up there for hours. I could see the lights of the city in the distance.

My breaths were short and my heart was pounding against my chest, it hurt to breath. Then suddenly I felt a jerk. I thought we were falling, but we started moving forward again. Slowly we rode, all breathing hard.

It was the longest ride I've ever had to endure. Lightning had caused my brain and body so much paranoia I felt like I had to vomit. As soon as my family and I hit the ground we ran to our hotel room. We finally made it, we were all short of breath.