[pct-l] Sierra Club groups

[Trekker4 at aol.com]

Outings are the reason I've never joined the Sierra  Club: in Dallas the 
trips were filled by the insiders, before they were  announced at the monthly 
meetings; elsewhere, unrealistic expectations about the  mph that a group can do 
have created problems; I don't know about Dallas, as I  never got to do a trip, 
but elsewhere no education about ethics or making sure a  group is properly 
prepared (eg, suggesting 2 liters of water for an all day  hike) is done. I 
wouldn't lead any group hike without inspecting supplies and  gear.
    Speaking of group mishaps, over 30 years ago I went  on a Junior College, 
25-year old instructor led, winter hike out of  the Dallas area in OK. He got 
angry, after dark, when an 18-year old  female student wouldn't have sex with 
him, resulting in 3 females having to  share a Eureka Timberline. He also 
didn't inspect gear or people, even though I  advised him to do so before the 
trip; I even wrote him a required gear  list. I guess I was about 30 at the time. 
One female showed up in  pointed-toe, thin leather, go-go boots, which I 
didn't see until 150 miles  down the road; I found out later she was a druggie. 
    Go-go apparently had heeded our no drugs warning,  but became a pain 
without them. We'd gotten into 6" of snow in SE OK, on the  Ouachita Trail. I was 
unofficially in charge of 8 of us, because we'd gotten  separated from our 
illustrious leader and others; he'd tried to drive into  another access point, to 
leave a vehicle, but couldn't make it on the snowy  road. Go-go was in a 
tent, in her bag; she'd gotten cold, and I'd told her to  get into the tent. She 
was laughing with another girl in the tent, while  the rest of us set up camp 
and cooked dinner. I told the 2 girls that if they  wanted to eat, they had to 
help finish setting up and cooking. The other girl  immediately came out and 
helped; Go-go stayed in the tent, and didn't eat.  
    She refused to hike the next morning, etc. We,  7 of us, walked off, 
leaving her pack and a tent which I'd purposely put back in  it's bag, and told 
her we'd send someone to rescue her when we got back. I left  last, told her I 
wasn't going to strand 7 other people just for her, politely  suggested she 
grow up, and that it would be several hours before we could get  help (no cell 
phones back then). There was a road 500' above us, a trail mile or  so away, 
which she knew about, but our way back to the cars was several miles; I  warned 
her to follow us back the way we came if she decided to walk, or be lost  to 
rescue people who maybe couldn't get in on the road above us. Myself and  
another guy had already walked up to it the afternoon before. It was a sunny  day, 
above freezing and warming, so she decided to follow us within 5 minutes,  even 
bringing the tent.  
    I told the instructor what had happened, and told  him that he'd come 
close to a back country rescue under his watch. I had a  private talk with the 
instructor's boss a week later. I suggested he talk  to others on the hike, not 
just take my word for what happened, and  suggested changes in their program. 
I don't know if anything changed,  because I never went on another hike with 
that group. 
    Then there was the school group down here in Big  Bend National Park, 
which accidentally left a kid behind on Emory Peak, 83??  feet, the highest in 
the park... He died from a fall down a  cliff.   
 
Bob  "Trekker"
Big Bend Desert Denizen
Naturalized Citizen - Republic of  Texas

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