We did stay at the Mizpah Hut.
Rest/Naprosyn/warm packs helped to relieve the pain and the spams. There is no doubt in my mind that I would not have made it back to Crawford that night. We took our time and downclimbed the next day. We spent all afternoon sitting in the Amnoosak river. What a great pain reliever that was.
I will never forget the expression on my friend's face when I told her, as I lay in the mud ,that we might have to spend the night out. After her initial shock she rose to the occasion like a trooper. "Chestnut" will live on in my memory forever.
To answer your question regarding the trail, when you leave Mizpah you hike out approx. 200ft. At this point there is a trail sign for the cutoff to the right and Webster Cliff to the left. It is a Y junction.
We left the hut laughing and talking and LOOKING DOWN AT OUR FEET!
The trail was wet and slippery in spots. We completely bypassed the trail sign and followed the very obvious Webster Cliff trail. There is a good side rock at the Mizpah cutoff junction and we did not appreciate that the trail veered off in this direction.
My mistake was feeling very certain that I knew exactly where we were heading. I had done this trail on several occasions and was very confident that I knew the way out. Big suprise
In the future I will look at my map and use my compass so that I will be certain of my direction of travel. Had I taken a bearing I would have known long before an hour passed that we were heading in the wrong direction.
I had some serious suspicions way before I was injured and it would have taken only a minute to check our direction of travel with the compass dangling around my neck!
It was a great adventure and a learning experience. I cannot imagine being lost and benighted in the woods with not a clue where you are.
I think I will read "Deep Survival" again.