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| Stormy Night 2-Oliver Lee SP, NM | |
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| | Stormy Night 2-Oliver Lee SP, NM | | | |
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Stormy Night 2-Oliver Lee SP, NM
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| no partners | | Back at campsite #15 for the night, things started out fairly quiet following the weather of several hours earlier. But new storms were seen moving in from the southwest as daylight faded. I checked the myradar app on my phone and could see that though the cell movement was toward the north, the area was expanding and spreading toward my location. So, no tranquil evening at camp for me!  That would make two nights in a row with unsettled conditions at camp. The previous night it wasn't storms, just very strong very warm winds blowing things around. This is a notoriously windy area, which I already knew, so it was basically business as usual. 
As it was almost dark the campground host was making the rounds and asked me what I thought was going to happen. By this time lightning was seen and thunder heard. I told him I thought we might get a glancing blow based on the radar.  Wishful thinking indeed. Initially there was about 30 minutes of a light dust action riding in with the outflow, followed by the showers. As it turned out, though there were numerous hours with rainfall, it was never very heavy, just strongly windblown making for a great nuisance factor. The lightning never became a concern. The biggest problem was my choice of this site. Even with the protective structure. the low spot was around the picnic table inside, so where I hung out to get away from the elements is where the runoff was pooling. So, by the time I went to bed later, things were pretty sloppy (btw...I don't recommend site #15  ). If you look at reviews for this place, most everyone raves about the location and views, but there are complaints about the slope the campground is on. Nothing is perfect of course.
Sleeping in the back of the truck was fine, but I had to open the shell windows some in order to be comfortable. The windblown intermittent showers did make it inside to some degree, though nothing extensive. In the morning, I lingered a little longer than usual to try and get things that got wet dried out. The campground host swung by eventually and asked me how things went and where I was off to next. I will say that he was a very knowledgeable and friendly person. 
Finally, it was time to secure the bedroll and finish packing to leave. I stopped to petrol up in Alamogordo before heading for Socorro, my destination for night 4 of the road trip. |
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