I'm sure glad this thread was started away from the thread about John Likely's disappearance.
We don't yet know what exactly happened to him, but he was certainly experienced, fit enough to summit, and had companions who did attempt to look out for him, even though they didn't walk the trails hand-in-hand.
Some of the attitudes posted here are really arrogant and insensitive. Not everyone who gets into trouble is a naive, underprepared newbie.
I think it's only decent to recognize the difficulty of this part of the trail and pose some reasonable solutions to point out this particular hazard.
