Ezekiel 1:28 “As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.” (NASB)
These are pictures taken by my friend Richard and his description of the weather change is included in the post.
August 5, 2018 in the morning while hiking north on the Alpine Tunnel Trail in the Sawatch Mountain Range in Colorado. I was in Tunnel Gulch approaching the tunnel’s blocked east entrance. The elevation on this section of to the trail is about 11,500 feet. I started hiking about 6:08 am from the Hancock Trail Head. At 7:01 am I stopped to take a picture of the sunrise and blue skies toward the east. At 7:08 am I heard some rumbling to the north and noticed that the weather was changing rapidly so I snapped a quick shot and continued north.
![IMG_0289[1]](https://i0.wp.com/deborahnottingham.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/img_02891.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
The second picture was taken just four minutes later at 7:12 am as the nearby storm was passing from west to east over the ridge in front of me. I don’t recall ever seeing a rainbow at seven in the morning before.
![IMG_0290[1]](https://i0.wp.com/deborahnottingham.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/img_02901.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
Three minutes later, at 7:15 am, I had to stop and take another picture of the rainbow in front of a very threatening dark sky ahead even while the gulch I was in was bathed in sunshine.
![IMG_0291[1]](https://i0.wp.com/deborahnottingham.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/img_02911.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
Three minutes later, at 7:18 am, as I approached the trees at the end of the rainbow the trail makes a sharp left and begins a four hundred foot vertical ascent up through the trees. By the time I got to this junction and started up the switchbacks the skies to the west were blue!
In the span of about fifteen short minutes the weather had gone from blue skies to a very ominous storm and back to blue skies once again. While traversing the alpine tundra above 12,000 feet over the next mile or so I ran into rain and graupel (ice pellets) and more very loud rumblings. It wasn’t a thunder storm, but I did do some running nonetheless. I love hiking in the Colorado Rockies!
How fast has your life changed? When have you experienced dangerous weather hiking?