On a recent trip with my son...

There was a light breeze at dinnertime, nothing more. No reason to expect 50+MPH gusts that night at around 2AM.
My son was sleeping on the side the tree fell on. A few feet different and the mass of the trunk would've landed on us.
The bozo slept right through it. I woke him and we packed up the shelter and moved at 3AM.

Something about taking my son always brings the windstorms.
His name is Shant. The old Armenian translation varies between lightning, thunderbolt, and lightning fire. Maybe this has something to do with it.

Edited by xnomanx on 01/09/2013 20:58:16 MST.

Wow. Glad to know that no one was hurt.

Sometimes we get a gentle reminder we're not in charge, sometimes a slap in the face. Good to be alive and uninjured. Glad to hear it worked out.

Glad you and the boy are okay!

Maybe you should change your son's name! Is there an Armenian word that means "peaceful quiet night"? ;)

Yes, good you're okay!

Since everyone is okay, I wonder:

If the branch fell, maybe you should have just stayed there?

Or looked up at tree to see if it looks like any more branches might fall?

Or maybe a tree that had one branch fall is more likely to have others because it's unhealthy?

Walking around in 50 MPH winds is more dangerous than just staying put?

I have read it's good to look at the ground and see if there are cracks. If a tree is nearing falling, it will sometimes first rock around causing cracks in the ground. Getting hit by a falling tree would be worse. Or examine branches and if there are unhealthy ones, don't camp there.

Always good to examine close-calls to learn lessons about what to avoid in the future.

@ Craig:

Is that you in your new avatar? Nice to see your cape doing double duty as your shelter! :)

Edited by ben2world on 01/11/2013 17:45:17 MST.

Good thing you were in a Sil shelter. Not only is it waterproof, but it stops falling trees!

Poor fools in Cuben, ahh... ;)



Glad y'all are OK. I have envisioned you waking your son and sayin 'We gotta move- a tree fell on us." And your boy (upon sleeping through it) lookin at you like you're crazy. He was thinking "Dad has lost it... tree fell on us?!?!" He probably thought you were trying to play a joke on him.

...Then you get out and point... "that tree, Son" LOL that is so funny

Yep, that's me Ben. I've been hitting the char siu bao a little hard lately. The ShangriLa 3 is the only thing that fits as a poncho anymore.


Jeff, what you're imagining is almost exactly how it went down.

Glad you two are ok. Sounds like your getting into all kinds of new hobbies, surfing, bushcraft

Wow...couldn't have had that land any closer. Glad you and your boy came out without a scratch.

When its windy or raining alot i stay away from trees

All the big branches at the bottom of the pnw rainforest came from somewhere ;)