Which brings up my final observation. Upon returning to Whitney Portal, we encountered one person without a pack, on her own, who though less than half a mile from the trail's end, seemed to be lost/disoriented. Another two hikers at trail's end were asking if we had encountered a member of their party who they had become separated from (a different situation from the first one). Seems to stress the importance of keeping with your group, if that is your plan.
Overall, an awesome experience, but one with challenges that shouldn't be underestimated.
I could not agree with you more, Kath. In some of the worst disoriented/lost stories (particularly when groups disband on the way down & mayhem hits at the MT/JMT split) trouble occurred because the person who was left behind, unfortunately, was the least prepared to be alone. This happened during a winter outing in my neck of the woods this last season, and the person survived only because he was intelligent enough to build a snow cave (but not smart enough to not be alone without a compass!)Either the individuals in the group must be equally prepared to go it alone, or everyone bites the bullet and travels as fast as the slowest person. Personally, I go for the equally prepared AND stay together method.
