We had a young couple staying at the lodge who had an experience that could have ended badly. They headed out after breakfast for their day's adventure and it turned out to be more than they expected. They began hiking the West Baldy trail in the afternoon, got to the top and decided to keep going and descend the East Baldy Trail. Unfortunately, having started rather late in the day to hike this route and not knowing that the East Baldy Trail has rock formations to cross before picking up the trail again, they wandered off trail as the sun was setting. They had no cell phone coverage, so attempts to call us or 911 failed. They ended up spending the night on the mountain huddled together to keep warm. Thankfully, it only got down to 33 degrees, and at daylight they began searching for the trail and managed to get back to the lodge.
For anyone who is going to hike anywhere you must be prepared for the best outcome:
- Know your route and how long it will take you to complete it
- If you haven't hiked it before, talk to someone who has
- Weather: know the forecast and time of sunset
- Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back
- Take a day pack with snacks, water, compass/GPS, jacket or sweatshirt, flashlight
- Change your thinking from "we don't want to carry supplies we won't need" to "anything can happen out here and we're going to be prepared"
A dear friend had a great saying he used often in mentoring younger people:
Proper
Preparation
Prevents
Poor
Performance
It's worth keeping in mind for pretty much everything.
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