My lightning story:
I was in Yellowstone in 1992. One of my brothers that had been there before recommended a place for the best buffalo burger, just outside Yellowstones northern entrance. I had brought all my food for this week trip in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, but I wanted to eat out.
As I was waiting for my burger and fries, I look outside and see the blackest, darkest storm front that I had ever seen in my life. For some reason, I decided that I should get back to my campsite, instead of just waiting out the storm in my Chevy Blazer.
As I start driving while eating a great burger, the sky is getting darker. I get to the ranger kiosk, show my pass and go through. About 100 yards in front of me is the Roosevelt Arch, the iconic stone arch that is inside the Northern entrance to Yellowstone. I was about 20 yards past the kiosk, when all of a sudden, lightning hits the stone arch. The flash filled the whole windshield, the sound was unbelievable. Well, as I drove through the arch, I kept eating because it was really a great burger . I guess that I was naive and didn't know how lucky that I was that I wasn't under the arch a few seconds sooner. I wasn't aware of the danger that I had been in.
It then started to hail; It started hailing so much that I swore that the hail was coming up out of the ground. I pulled to the side of the road. Meanwhile, I was finishing up my burger and fries. It hailed for about 5 minutes. When I got back to my campsite, my tent was still standing, but there was ice everywhere around the campsite.
Someday I will go back to Yellowstone, and to Gardiner to relive my burger experience. Hopefully with no lightning.