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High Country Backpacking
If you are hiking with a partner who is stronger or weaker than you are, the uphills are where your relationship will be put to the test. Be warned: If both partners don't respect the abilities and limits of the other person, the uphills can turn into a battlefield. Slower hikers usually feel pushed, rushed, and sometimes demoralized. Stronger hikers feel frustrated and tethered, as if their momentum is slowly being drained away. In my opinion—and it's one that is put to the test every time I hike with my husband—there is no solution to this dilemma except for each of you to go at your own pace and meet somewhere up the trail. Nagging a slow hiker to go faster doesn't result in a faster hiker; it results in a resentful, unhappy hiker. Nor is it any fun for a fast walker to have to slow down to what feels like a virtual crawl. You need to consider the different strengths and weaknesses of the members of your party when you plan your hike. The fact is, a group can only go as far as its weakest member. If getting somewhere by a certain time is a consideration, you might want to redistribute the gear to reflect the relative strength of the people in your group.
If you do split up, agree on a place to meet and make sure you both have adequate food and equipment to get there, including rain gear, water bottles, and food. Dan sometimes stays behind to give me a head start and writes in his journal for a while. That way, he gets to spend his waiting time in below-beeline comfort rather than atop a blustery pass. But if the trail is poor and might pose navigating problems, the faster hiker should go ahead. This avoids a timewasting situation in which the slower hiker gets to an unmarked junction and has to wait for the faster hiker—who is sitting down at the bottom of the mountain taking a nap in order to give the slower hiker a head start! Also, by the time the slower hiker gets to the junction, the faster hiker may have figured out which way to go. Note: Many hikers who split up on a climb plan to meet at the top. But a windswept summit might be an uncomfortable place to wait, so you and your partner should agree that if the weather is bad, the person up ahead has the option of continuing on and down the other side until he reaches a protected place where he can wait more comfortably.
Details mentioned in this article were accurate at the time of publication
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