6/31/11 Posting

This Saturday I led a hike to Rock Lake. While a lovely trail, the trail climbs steeply and faces the sun, making for potentially hot conditions even if you start early in the day. One of my hikers began the hike, but after about 30 minutes didn’t feel strong enough to complete the hike that day because of the heat. I was also feeling a bit hot too already, so I totally understood what this hiker was feeling.

It is likely on some of these longer hikes that one or more members of a hiking party may feel unable or unwilling to make it to the final destination on a hike. This is not unexpected by hike leaders and we attempt to make plans to deal with these types of occurrences.

If the weather is fine, then a hike leader might ask a participant to choose a nice place to sit and wait for the rest of the group to return, giving them an approximate time that they will return to that spot. If the weather is poor or the participant is moving slowly for some reason that day, then the hike leader might allow them to start moving back down the trail if there are no tricky junctions or dangerous trail sections. If conditions warrant, the hike leader may turn the whole group around. There is no one set answer to this issue; the hike leader must make a decision based on existing conditions.

However, once an agreement is made between the hike leader and participant on what will happen, then it is important to stick to the agreed-upon plan. The hike leader must be clear on what the participant will do (sit and wait at a particular spot, or head down the trail, or whatever), and the participant must adhere to that plan. Making changes to the plan such as waiting at a different point than the agreed upon one or starting to head back down the trail without telling the hike leader that you were going to do this causes a great deal of concern for the both the hike leader and the participant. It can also lead to a great deal of unneeded effort to find the participant if they’re not where they said they were going to be.

Back to my Rock Lake hike: Since the day was fine and we were fairly close to the cars, my hiker felt comfortable hanging out alone. If the hiker had been uncomfortable waiting alone, my co-leader had agreed to spend the day with the hiker as well. I equipped the hiker with one of our handheld radios and asked the hiker to call if needed. The hiker’s carpool partner also provided spare keys to the car. The hiker agreed to either wait at the place we parted ways or down at the trailhead. We told the hiker when we’d be back by and I made sure to plan our trip so we’d be back with time to spare. All happened as planned and we met up with the hiker back at the trailhead.

So please if you find yourself in a situation where you cannot continue to the destination but are not necessarily injured, please have a clear conversation with your hike leader on what you are comfortable with happening. Once a plan has been make hike leaders and participants need to be sure to stick to that plan.