Yuval Kochman said:
I now realize that there's a pretty heated discussion going on in VFTT. As I cannot post there but I saw that members are reading the comments here, I will post a few more clarifications. I am aware that I have made mistakes, but leaving someone behind because he's too slow is not something that I did or would do. F&G removed this accusation from the story in their site, after I turned their attention. In any case, here are some points. Before the hike: I told Vinoth what were my travel plans, including mileage, elevation gain etc. My big mistake was, that I didn't realize that to a beginner these number wouldn't mean anything. I did suggest to him that instead of joining me he could go on an easier hike in the area by himself and we'd meet in the evening; he preferred to attempt the hike with me. We agreed in advance that if he is not up to it, then at an early stage he will turn back and go to the car. In my mind, that stage would have been Glenn Boulder or even the rocky outcrop before that, which is the first place on the trail where you get a view that makes the way up worthwhile - that's about 1.5 miles from the road. However, he disappeared even before that. On the trail: I stopped every 5-10 minutes, waited for him to get to where I was, chatted a bit, then set off again. After the fact I know, that when he went off into the ski trail, I was just a 100 yard up the main trail. Of course I should have stopped at that intersection, it's just that the tiny ski trail never hit me as a trail junction. When I realized what had probably happened, I ran into the direction of the ski trail that made more sense to me, calling his name to no avail. Then I thought the following: what are my chances of finding him in the woods, not knowing in which direction he might have gone? Very low. What are the chances that he finds back the trail or the road? Very high. We're talking about a clear day, perfect weather, road is 1 mile from there in the obvious downhill direction, you can actually hear the traffic from that point. Bushwhacking to the road in a very slow pace would take no more than 3 hours, while there's still 11 hours of light remaining. No cliffs around the trail where he could have fallen off. I considered it a very low-risk situation, and the fact that it turned out into a problem does not mean otherwise. Low-probability events do happen sometimes. I also thought that anyone I report this to would think the same. Maybe I was wrong. Anyway I kept hiking, almost running, making no stops, in order to be back in the car well before dark. Interaction with AMC people: The people at the information desk were not random people selling souvenirs. They were knowledgeable about the surrounding trails, and made good guesses as to where he might come out to the road. They were also under the impression that it was their responsibility. They kept suggesting to do things before "taking it to the next step". It was not until 8:30-9 PM that they suggested that I call F&G. There definitely could be problem here of a gap between what is expected of them, and the way they perceive it. Driving back to Boston: That was only after speaking to the F&G officer who said that there is nothing to do at the moment and Vinoth would have to spend the night in the woods. Of course I did not feel comfortable with going back, but it was not my car and I had no option to keep it. My plan was to get a few hours of sleep, then look for contacts of his, as well as talk to friends of mine and organize people to go up there and help F&G with the search. That would have been more efficient than acting by myself. My main lesson: I will never again associate my hike with someone that I do not know, unless I do it for educational purposes.
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June 14, 2012 9:47 pm
As members of the choir here, it's easy to know that newbies can get experience going on AMC Chapter Hikes. If you grew up in an outdoors family, you learned things. If your an MIT student (you're book smart) maybe from another country you don't know any of that. Do we know Kochman's age? At 50 I'm assuming college age folks are in better shape than I am, or at elast tolerant of more trail (or jogging) punishment. In my 20's I knew that there was still a wide variance of being "in shape"
