The Solo Hiker: Stupidist of all!
Guilty as charged. Several thousand trail miles logged, and probably 70% solo. A couple of broken toes was the worst outcome of all that solo hiking, and having people with me wouldn't have changed that one bit. I still had to walk out with broken toes. I once descended Whitney solo with the only case of AMS I've ever experienced, but I knew I was suffering from altitude illness, knew I had to walk myself out, and took it slow and steady. I like to think I've been generally incident-free over the years because I constantly pay attention to my surroundings, utilize my experience, and exercise common sense.
However, regardless of experience and caution, stuff happens. I can think offhand of two instances I've seen with uber-experienced mountaineers taking tumbles that left me shaking my head. One was due to a trekking pole collapsing at the worst possible time, and the other was a freak situation where the looped laces of one boot got tangled in a lacing hook of the other. Neither of these could have been predicted or prevented. No real damage done in either incident, but both could have been deadly if they had occurred in just slightly different circumstances. Could happen to any of us, of any skill level.
The solo hiker is always easy fodder if something goes wrong, but often it would not have made a whit of difference if others were with that hiker. Of course AMS is a big exception, as is noob status or injury - any of these in a group should never be left to fend for themselves, especially on descent. And children, obviously. I saw a case on Whitney a couple of years ago where a 13 YO boy had completely given out on the switchbacks - possibly with AMS complications - and the parents continued to push for the summit. They asked a descending group they had just met to escort their son back to their camp at Trail Camp. Parents of the Year candidates . . .
And yes, Bee, I know you were bee-ing facetious!
