From my hike on 9/22/12:
0n the switchbacks, my hiking partner (Dave) and I ran into a lady hiking solo. We played leapfrog with her for a bit and started talking. There was something odd about her, but not knowing her, I didn't know if that was just the way she was, or if it was something else. One thing that I noticed is that she'd go flying by us like she wasn't working hard at all, then five mins later I'd see her nearly passed out, sitting on a rock. I tried telling her that she was better off going slow and steady instead taking long breaks after sprinting up the trail. She said she needed to go fast b/c her group was waiting for her.
When I got to trailcrest, Dave was talking to her at the top. I noticed that she looked really cold - shivering a little. I told her that if she was that cold, she might want to consider heading down, as it probably wouldn't be warmer headed towards the summit. Dave and I regrouped, took a bunch of pictures and headed towards the summit. On the way to the summit, I asked Dave about the lady and told him I hoped she turned around and headed back down. When talking to her, Dave said that she repeatedly answered his questions with 'It's just the altitude.... I'm in great shape, not winded, it's just the altitude,' or some variation of that idea. At that point, I started thinking that I should've spent more time talking to her and really encouraged her to get off the mtn.
When Dave and I got to the summit, we learned about a hiker with a broken foot. A ranger was at the hut with this person, waiting for a helicopter. After about 30 mins we started the trip back to the Portal. About a mile down, we ran into the lady. She was with a friend now, but was vomiting and was using an emergency blanket to stay warm. She had made it to the summit (yesterday I realized she's in one of my pics). I hiked with the two of them for the next hour or so. At some point, we were joined by 2 others that were in her group.
Talking to one of them, I learned that the lady started vomiting near Outpost Camp. Two of the people in the group had just met her the night before (not sure about her relationship with the 3rd member). One of the guys gave her the keys to his car at Outpost and told her to head down and meet them that night after the hike. Apparently the AMS lady slept at outpost for 20 mins and headed up the mountain. They were all surprised to see her on the summit. The group also had some information about the injured hiker at the hut (we had just seen the helicopter land and take off a few minutes earlier). Apparently the person had injured their foot before Outpost Camp, hiked to the summit, then decided that they needed to be rescued!
When the trail started heading uphill (near the JMT junction), the AMS lady was stopping every 50-100 ft to rest and wrap up in her emergency blanket. One of the group members tried to take her pack, but she refused b/c 'she needed her water.' I was able to get her to give up her pack by saying 'Your water isn't doing you any good. You're puking all of it up, and the weight is slowing you down. The most important thing is getting off the mtn right now.'
Talking to the group, I learned that they had friends at Trail Camp and that their plan was to leave her there overnight so that she could hike out on her own in the morning. At that point, I may have gotten a little rude, but starting explaining that she could have AMS, which could progress to HACE and/or HAPE and that if she goes to sleep at Trail Camp, she may not wake up in the morning. Soon after that, I was asked if I was actually a Dr (I'm not). Not sure if they were questioning the validity of my statements or if they wanted someone to examine her.
When we got to the Portal around 930 pm, a sheriff told us that the lady had made it off the mountain and was doing ok.
On the hike down from Trail Camp, I was wondering if I should've done more or should have been more pushy about telling her that she needed to get of off the mountain. When I was asked if I was a doctor or not, I thought that I may have overstepped my bounds and my help wasn't wanted/needed. It made me feel better to know that she did get off the mountain ok, but as we all know, this isn't always the case.
