>>2287593Not a horror story but scary for anyone who's been in a life threatening situation. I took a 4-person team out to help me do field work on a 3-night backpacking trip, and everyone except one person was an experienced hiker. The non-experienced person (Person 1) was a solid athlete though, and we were a big enough group that if they needed support we could provide it.
>first day of hike is 12 miles with 55lb-60lb packs>get to camp and run into trail crew - they've only cleared up to our first spot. The next 30 miles haven't been touched>everyone is exhausted, eat and sleep well>next day is hardest hiking I've ever done>supposed to be 11-mile day, but takes us 13 hours to go about 9 miles with all the tree falls, losing the trail, and river crossings>Person 1 tells us they're vegan and decides to have instant hummus and almonds they realize expired 3 years ago>Definitely not enough food, offer them some candy for extra energy, but they refuse>goal was to get up and over a pass and sleep on the opposite side>As we're hiking up, start pointing out different plant species they need to be able to identify>Person 1 is not having it, lagging behind>get on top of the pass at around 8pm, and it's covered in ~3ft snow>had been guaranteed there wouldn't be snow up there (3000ft pass, not very high up)>start walking over pass, have to cross narrow but rushing creek by hop stepping over a 4" diameter branch>Person 1 postholes and screamsContinued...
