2024-08-24, 07:56 AM
Brice makes excellent points, along with having first hand experience with the route, which I do not (I've wandered around the area around the Big Four some, but not gone much higher. I think Diconnet has a section on the area?). There is a pattern, of which I am guilty as much as others, to have a plan, goal, destination, story-in-advance for the day. And we get a bit fixated on that plan, in the process choosing to ignore clues that it may be unraveling. E.g., "I thought I'd summit by noon but it's still at least an hour away but no problem, I have plenty of daylight". That's often the case and indeed may be true, and is why I try to leave as early as possible But then "Gee I thought it would take me an hour more to get to the to and it's been two and I'm still not there and I'm not sure I have enough water, gee the sun is getting hot". Time to stop, eat that lunch, and head down? But we have summit fever and keep going. Could just end up being a long day, with headlamps on the way out. Done that. Or could be a rescue. So far, avoided that.
Of course the tension is that if you don't push yourself some times, you don't know your limits. I feel that a lot as I age and am less capable than I used to be, so it's a bit harder to judge based on prior experience. I know if I play it too safe, I'm giving in to age too quickly, and losing ability even faster. It can be a fine line between rising to a challenge and risky behavior, all amplified at least 10x when solo. (Of course, with a partner it can be more difficult to "chicken out" because as long as one wants to continue, the other will probably follow).
That also gets to the water question. Had he cached a liter or two at the mine, he would have been lighter / faster for the climb, and been insured of a good exit when he got back to the mine. But he would have run out sooner on the climb. Maybe that would have been a realistic motivator to turn back, which would have been the right thing to do, with hind sight.
Anyway, I do a lot of solo hiking and I try to think about these things. There certainly have been days when I've come back well into darkness saying to myself "I should not have done that. I exceeded my ability. I am lucky to be walking out" but at the same time "Yeah, that was a really cool summit, what a view". Tension.
Of course the tension is that if you don't push yourself some times, you don't know your limits. I feel that a lot as I age and am less capable than I used to be, so it's a bit harder to judge based on prior experience. I know if I play it too safe, I'm giving in to age too quickly, and losing ability even faster. It can be a fine line between rising to a challenge and risky behavior, all amplified at least 10x when solo. (Of course, with a partner it can be more difficult to "chicken out" because as long as one wants to continue, the other will probably follow).
That also gets to the water question. Had he cached a liter or two at the mine, he would have been lighter / faster for the climb, and been insured of a good exit when he got back to the mine. But he would have run out sooner on the climb. Maybe that would have been a realistic motivator to turn back, which would have been the right thing to do, with hind sight.
Anyway, I do a lot of solo hiking and I try to think about these things. There certainly have been days when I've come back well into darkness saying to myself "I should not have done that. I exceeded my ability. I am lucky to be walking out" but at the same time "Yeah, that was a really cool summit, what a view". Tension.