Richard brings up some important points. In the old days, before COVID-19, the leader had to pick up the permit in person. Now, the leader sends an email and receives a .PDF permit by email. A smart leader would print the permit, sign it, scan it, and then send a copy to everybody. If a ranger asks to see the permit, everybody whips out their phone and shows the signed and scanned permit. I wonder what the ranger would do if the leader wasn’t there. Maybe he is a half mile up the trail. Maybe he quit, as Richard suggests. Maybe he never started the hike, and is 3,000 miles away.
I’m in a somewhat similar situation. I planned a trip over Shepherd Pass for this Friday with three other people. I even specified an alternate leader, but she never got the email asking her to confirm. I was supposed to help two of them climb Thunder Mountain and Mt. Jordan. The other partner is climbing something else. I already got the permit email and distributed it to everybody. My “alternate leader†just discovered that several of her friends are doing almost the exact same trip on the same days. Suddenly, they may not need me. I think I’ll end up leading Thunder and hiking out with one of them, while the “alternate leader†joins the other group for the rest of their trip.
