Unplanned Night in the Presidentials

[kmac]

To defend my simplistic response, allow me to elaborate. Having 4 grown children of my own, quite possibly, my motherly instinct took hold of me when I read this thread. I do think they made the right decision to end there hike and descend down into the Caps Ridge Trail. And far be it for me to be judgemental, people make decisions based on there experience or lack of.
I think that perhaps I was thinking of the what if's:
What if the temperature dropped throughout the night?
What if one of the children became hypothermic? or worse the mother.
What if the father fell and hurt himself and never reached the road?

Obviously there are questions we have no answers to in this particular situation but it just seems to me that they should of stayed together and descended the trail together. That was my "gut feeling" when I first read this and I still feel that way.

 

[Stan]

Analyzing incidents like this prepares you better for the evenutality of an unplanned bivuoac or worse. That's why Mohamed's accident reports are the main thing I read in Appalachia.

I think it's important to recognize that there is rarely only one right way to respond to a incident like this but surely there are many more errors that could be made that could make the situation worse. The biggest error in my mind is an unprepared "it can't happen to me attitude".

I had an unplanned bivuoac once. It came as no surprise since it was an ambitious hike/bushwhack that started out rather late for the distance. It was the ONE time, however, that in the interest of saving space and weight in my day pack, I omitted my rain gear. (I now have more packable gear that is less tempting to leave behind.) Aside from that everything worked out as might have been anticipated: fire starting in damp weather (but only to assure it was possible, didn't really need it), a bed of fir boughs, a tarp from a very packable and never before (or since) used space blanket, and an otherwise comfortable night near a babbling brook.

 

[MadRiver]

I too have been questioned as to why I always carry a bivy and a rain fly when traveling above tree line. Twice on the Presidential Ridge, I and several of my hiking friends had to shelter ourselves from a storm that came upon us rather quickly without the opportunity to retreat below tree line. The rain fly kept us dry until the storm passed.

Once while stopping in Lakes of the Clouds for water and a bathroom break en route to Boott Spur the sky opened and it starting pouring. My friend, who was new to hiking and questioned why I insisted that she bring along foul weather gear and a hat and gloves when the weather called for a beautiful day, thanked me profusely after donning her foul weather gear. The looks on the faces of the folks who obviously drove up or took the train, was priceless.

I too do not wish to second guess the family. I’m just thankful that they didn’t turn into another statistic.