Lightning strike above tree line kills and injures

Very few people are killed by lightning, very few of those are above treeline. Lightning is really scary when you are up there, but stats don't support the notion that you are more safe below treeline.

www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/fatalities.shtml

I found those statistics when I hiked in Colorado and regularly read trip reports about people stumbling around in strange places before dawn because they had an arbitrary deadline in their heads for when they needed to be off the mountains. A lot more people die falling than being struck by lightning, so you should consider that before hitting an unfamiliar trail in the dark or running in a panic because it's 12:01 and you are above treeline.

If you look at the statistics, it's unusual that the 3 CO deaths this year were people hiking & camping. It's more likely to be golfers, boaters, and farmers, but actually it's pretty random who gets it. Often the strikes occur miles from the thunderhead, instead of the theoretically most probable highest exposed point. There are case studies for a bunch of these, especially in Colorado.

It's really sad anyway. Glad you were safe, hikinggods, but the odds were in your favor.