{"id":720,"date":"2016-05-15T23:42:22","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T23:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gratch.co.uk\/chase2013\/?p=720"},"modified":"2016-05-16T05:24:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T05:24:27","slug":"never-chase-in-the-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gratch.co.uk\/chase2013\/2016\/05\/never-chase-in-the-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 4 – Never chase in the mountains…"},"content":{"rendered":"

…or so a seasoned storm chaser would tell you. The roads are bad, you can’t see the storms and its all a big waste of time.<\/p>\n

So naturally, off we went. When you’ve flown halfway round the world to chase storms, you’re not going to let a mountain get in your way though for much of the time they did. However the storm looked amazing with the mountains as a backdrop and gives you a different perspective.<\/p>\n

\"Whats<\/a>

What’s that coming over the hill, is it a monster?<\/p><\/div>\n

We drove along the only road in the area through the valleys seeing nothing much, when suddenly we saw a dirt road heading up the edge of a steep incline to a vantage point. For the record, dirt roads are a big no no in a thunderstorm. The roads turn into mud and you will get stuck almost immediately – not even 4x4s are safe, let alone our crummy SUV. Needless to say we were vary wary as we ventured up the steep incline, knowing full well that if it rained we would be stuck. Luckily the storm read the memo and kept well to our north. <\/p>\n

\"Off-piste\"<\/a>

Off-piste<\/p><\/div>\n

Half way up the hill we met another chaser, Mike Olbinski (http:\/\/www.mikeolbinski.com\/) who had the same dubious idea we had. But hey, there’s safety in numbers right? We made a good choice. When we reached the top we were treated to a great view of the storm over the mountains trying to get organised. They never did.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The storm tried to get organised but never really did<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Some<\/a>

Some sort of wild goat bounding across the scene.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"_MG_3049\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"_MG_3048\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Later we darted east and ended up driving through the core and into some more hail and rain. But it became clear that nothing more was going to happen, and we needed to be in north Texas tomorrow for a potentially big day shaping up. So we left for Lubbock to try and make up some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n