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Playing the Odds
Published on Sep 1, 2011
The AT is a ridge line trail. It was blazed to follow the ridge line of the Appalachian Mountains. This means you're on top of a mountain most of the time, or trudging to the top, or scrambling off the top.
I used to hear that you're more likely to win the lottery than get struck by lightning. That was encouraging, but I knew my behavior was akin to buying a whole lot of lottery tickets. Contrary to popular belief, you are much more likely to get struck by lightning than hit the jackpot.
According to 30 years of NWS Data, your odds of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime are 1 in 10,000. This is much more likely than your odds of winning the Mega Millions Jackpot which are 1 in 175,711,536.
What I've begin to realize is that out of 10,000 people, how many of them are on an exposed ridge during a thunderstorm? Probably just me. Hopefully the GoPro will survive so I can become a YouTube sensation.