Schafer Meadows (8U2) in Montana was as beautiful as usual this year.  The only downside was the huge thunderstorm that hit about an hour after I arrived.  Brad, Mark and Melody had arrived ahead of me (thanks to my dead battery) and set up their camp.  I had time to button down the plane and toss my gear under the picnic table before  it started.  We had continuous lightning, rain heavy enough to flood most of the camp and hail!  The storm lasted all afternoon and well into the night.

  Brad was the only one to come through the whole event unscathed.   Mark and Melody found that they'd inadvertently pitched their tent on the main drainage for the campground.  I was perched on the picnic table throughout the storm, completely oblivious to the fact that I'd left my sleeping bag out in the rain.

Fortunately, the next day dawned with clear skies and, as is the custom after a rain, everyone set their damp gear out on the final approach hillside to dry in the sun.

As an aside, I'd like to point out that usually my  visits to Schafer are accompanied by excellent weather, but whenever Mark and Melody come along, we seem to experience some sort of atmospheric curse.  There's not enough data for a trend yet, but I'll be following this closely :-)