This was wild. I also cannot believe the hiking "buddy" threatened to leave his compatriot behind to make his flight. Not a good dude.
I once hiked down Whitney with a 10-11 y.o. kid who did not start the hike with me. I was trailing him and his two older teenage brothers off of the summit. The teenagers took off at a faster clip somewhere around Mirror Lake, leaving the 10 y.o. behind. Poor kid kept calling out for his brothers to wait for him—poor kid was on the verge of tears. I hiked out with him the last few miles and kept a conversation going. Turns out the three boys had been hiking with their mom while their stepdad was waiting back at the Portal. The mom was moving slowly and let the kids take off and head down while she reached the summit. I think the teens got impatient with their younger sibling.
We got safely back to the trailhead where I firmly (respectfully) lectured the hell out of those teens. I did not yell...they were just teenagers. The stepdad just watched quietly.
I'm fairly sure they still talk about me as some self-righteous ass who got in their business, but that's worth it to me if it makes the boys think twice about ditching their kid brother or a fellow hiker.
Last edited by Snacking Bear; 09/26/24 08:19 AM.
