We opened August with a rowdy round of thunderstorms. I managed to escape the worst of it, but folks out in the mountains suffered lightning, torrential rains, flash flooding and the torn earth following floods. Two folks and myself headed into a clean scrubbed and storm-cleared Whitney zone immediately following the worst of the storm. We had spectacular lighting on the clearing clouds. We also motored up the classic East Face route, encountering no chalk and some freshly moved boulders. Like a virgin experience. Tom and Suzy left their kids at summer camp to join me on what could hardly be called an "escape" from the rigors of family life. Nice work team.