Hiking safety: Don’t get separated from your group
It's more fun -- and safer -- to hike with a group.
Learning from mistakes seems to be a theme for me. I read something that goes like this: Making right decisions comes from experience. And experience comes from making bad decisions. So I’m going to tell you a story, then make a confession.
A group of hikers was going up Colorado’s 14,060-foot Mount Bierstadt recently. All were relatively new to high altitude hiking, and this time of year is borderline winter that high up. So high winds, blowing snow and below-freezing temps are the norm, with the possibility of snowstorms always present.
A couple of people in the group wanted to turn around, but did not communicate that in a way the third member of the group could understand. They were separated to some degree, and the third guy thought they meant they were going to take a different route to the top.
This third individual had never been on this mountain. He decided a more direct route would be better. Before he knew it, he was on top, but his friends were nowhere in sight. They’d already started heading down long before.
Apparently, he lost his way going down. And then he fell.
The good news is that he survived the fall. The bad news is that he dislocated his shoulder. With darkness setting in, he had to hunker down for the night and wait until morning for rescue. It came, as his friends noted his lateness and called for help. Search and Rescue came in the morning, flew him out via helicopter and the will man live to hike another day.
He’s fortunate that the weather more or less held out. But he wasn’t dressed or equipped for a night out. That, however, wasn’t the biggest problem here.
The error? Getting separated from the group. And, on the other side, the group allowing him to be separated from them.
Some people hike and climb solo, and hopefully they are prepared for those risks. By being part of a group, you’re lessening risks. Therefore, if you’re separated form your group, risk rises quickly. If you’re in a group and someone gets hurt, there are people there who can treat the injury, set up a place to hunker down (if needed) or go for help. If you’re alone, there’s no support available.
I have a couple of personal stories on this subject.
The first involved a trip in New Mexico where my group of five got separated into three groups. My sister-in-law (a marathoner) and I were way out in front and summited the peak first. My wife, alone, was about 15 minutes behind us. And 15 minutes after that, two friends of mine finally made the top. In that last group, the husband was seeing spots and the wife would later complain of nausea. Both were indications of mild altitude sickness setting in. In hindsight, it would have been better to wait on everyone else, monitor everyone’s well-being and, if needed, take action to combat potential health problems.
I was feeling really strong that day, so I wanted to blast up the mountain. Looking back, I realize we may have gotten away with one there.
The second story goes back to last year’s Mount Yale experience. I wrote about it about a month ago. In that case, our group was all over the mountain, mostly in pairs. I was alone, got quite sick and had a devil of a time getting down. No one knew about it because no one was within a mile of me.
While these stories deal with high country environments, don’t be fooled by Oklahoma’s seemingly more tame landscapes. Plenty of people have gotten into trouble in the deep woods of the state’s southeast or the rugged crags of the southwest. And can you imagine being stranded alone at Black Mesa, spraining your ankle, and then see the weather turn for the worse?
So I’m learning from my own errors, gaining experience and hopefully in the future making good decisions. One good decision: Stick with your group.
Bob Doucette
bdoucette@opubco.com
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