Puck said:
My concern is, when hiking with somebody, don't you look out for each other? It sounds like they were on coinciding solo hikes. Do some hike "every man for himself" and "if you are not out when I reach the car I will send help." When you are with somebody you can watch each other. Remind each other of the turn around time. Watch for signs of panic, hypothermia etc...
You are probing a frequent factor in many accidents and near accidents.
A group starts out together and the fast ones run on ahead.
What happens?
* The beginners and the tired ones are generally the ones left behind.
* Decisions are frequently made by the group at the front without input from the laggards.
* The laggards feel an implicit pressure to push onward no matter how tired they may be. Are likely to skip drinking, eating, and generally taking care of himself to "save time". (Meanwhile, the jackrabbits are well fed, watered, and have taken care of them selves during all of their waiting time.)
* Who is most likely to have an accident or problem? The beginners and tired ones.
* If someone up front has a problem, someone else soon stumbles on him.
* If someone at the back has a problem, how long before someone (who has been running ahead for who-knows-how-long), stops, waits, decides to go back, and finds the person with the problem? Up to twice as long as he has been moving plus the waiting time--or more if returning is slow (eg uphill). (There was a case in the Whites of a group that got back to the trailhead, reported a member to be missing, and went home out-of-state...)
Other aspects:
* Split groups have also been known to take different routes or miss a turn, etc and end up in different places not knowing where the others are.
* The people running ahead can commit the laggards to follow even if they need to turn back.
* Many leaders will occasionally wait for the laggards to catch up, but many (most in my experience) will start up again as soon as the laggard arrives (or in some cases as soon as the laggard comes into view). The laggard is not given any chance to communicate with the group, eat, or rest. (The rest of the group is frequently well rested, impatient, and starts off fast...)
* The laggard may "not want to hold the others back" and tell them to go on without him.
Net effect:
* People who are separated from others become, in effect, soloists whether they are competent or comforable soloing or not.
* Shared gear may become unavailable to them (eg food, shelter, cooking gear, etc)
* In case of an accident or a problem, no or at best, delayed help.
My viewpoint:
* One should decide at the outset "Is this a group hike or a bunch of soloists starting together?" (I have no problem with either--I solo about half the time including winter. My probem is groups that start as a group and then split into defacto soloists or subgroups without agreement of ALL members.)
Techniques for keeping a group together:
* The basic priciple is that ALL members of the group stay in communication at (virtually) all times. Or at least frequently. (Eg within shouting range. 2-way radios can also help.)
* A looser version is that each group memeber keeps contact with the person behind and stops if contact is lost. (And shouts ahead to stop those ahead.) Requires that each member stay aware at all times.
* Two "officers": one on point, one at sweep. (No one gets ahead of point, no one gets behind sweep.) The leader can be point, sweep, or neither. Point and sweep stay in contact such that sweep can ask point to stop at any time. Sweep should not be one of the slower hikers. Sweep can keep an eye on the slowest (and potentially weakest) members of the group--thus the leader frequently takes sweep.
* It may be more difficult for a leader without helpers. If he stays on point, he can control the pace such that the last group member is within sight and/or shouting range, but he may not be aware of the status of the slowest members. If he stays on sweep, he will be able to collect and watchthe laggars/people with problems, but not be able to stop the jackrabbits.
* Occasionally count down the line to see that everyone is still here.
* All group members stop at all trail junctions to make sure all take the same route.
For an account of a recent occurrance within this community, see the thread "Ice Climbers Rescued On Mt. Washington" in "General Backcountry", post #82, 02-01-2005, by Panama Jack. A courageous post--kudos to Panama Jack for his candid report. He describes how he was having a bad day (all of us have one of these now and then--I certainly do) and was left behind. His condition became serious and he had to deal with it by himself. Which he did. (Another kudo--and glad you pull the fat out of the fire.)
(Another) My viewpoint:
Unless they have arranged otherwise, the memebers of a group make an implicit agreement to cooperate with, keep an eye on, and help the other memebers if they have any difficulties. If one is left behind by the group without prior agreement, the implicit agreement has been broken by rest of the group.
What to do if you are left behind (or become accidently separated from the group or someone else is hurt and the party can only afford to send one member for help, etc):
* Switch to solo mode. (This may require experience and some confidence to do.) You now have to look after yourself. Move at a comfortable pace for yourself. Eat. Drink. Take care of yourself. (If you catch up to the group and they run off immediately--stop and take care of yourself.) (This doesn't mean thow a tantrum and sit down for the rest of the day to make them come back to you--you still have to act responsibly.)
* Adequate preparation: make sure you understand the navigation, and have the gear and knowledge to navigate. Ideally, you should have appropriate gear and knowledge to be self sufficient for a reasonable amount of time.
Switching to solo mode requires knowledge, experience, and confidence. Frequently not something a beginner can do well. Thus a group (or a member of the group) should keep an eye on the beginners and make sure that their needs are taken care of.
Lone member of group turning back because of a problem:
* Ideally someone goes back with him.
* In practice, this tends to be a judgement call based upon a number of factors including risk to the turnee, desire of others to reach a goal, and a variety of social factors.
An organized group has procedures for certifying leaders, generally teachs informally (runs beginners' trips/brings beginners along on trips), may teach courses (eg a winter school), and has/generates a common heritage (in terms of procedures etc). The participants (particularly the leaders and frequent participants) also get to know each other. All of these factors tend to improve the functioning of a group on the trail. (Some people can find these groups the be overorganized and stifling.)
This BBs is less organized. It is a group of people with a common interest in outdoor recreation. There is no formal certification process and no prior common heritage. (Of course subgroups develop a degree of common heritage by going on trips together.) This leads to a wider range of procedures and possibly a greater of less group coordination on the trail.
Conclusion:
As stated earlier, I can operate in either solo or group mode and feel that either (or perhaps modes that I haven't thought of) is perfectly reasonable and valid. But I do feel that the group should agree on a mode before they leave the trailhead (even better if before they leave home) and stick to it on the trail unless they explicitly agree to change. It can have a significant effect on our enjoyment and safety in the outdoors.
Meta comment:
I'll admit that this has been a little long-winded, however I hope that some of you find it useful.
Background:
I have been one of the fast ones, and at other times the laggard. I have lead and followed. I have taught and been the student. I have rescued/helped rescue others (nothing dramatic), but fortunately have never had to be rescued myself. And I have spent time with both organized and disorganized groups.
Doug