Story
“When your water supply is less than half full, turn back around!” my scoutmaster kept repeating over and over as my troop was about to head out on our hike. We were heading to Mount Baden Powell from our campsite in Little Jimmy’s Campground. It was roughly a 12-mile hike round trip, with a gain of about 3,559 feet going one way. I knew we had to get on our way soon so we wouldn’t be hiking back in the dark. “Who has the walkie talkies?” my scoutmaster asked. I rose my hand and said right after, “Okay guys, let’s get started. We have a ways to go.” A total of 7 adult leaders and 13 scouts set off on this hike.
Throughout the whole hike, the weather was toying with us. The major killer was the wind. While hiking along the ridge of a mountainside, any exposed skin would feel the cold cut of the wind. The sun’s heat and all the hiking kept us from wearing our sweaters, so our main strategy was to keep moving so the cold wind wouldn’t get to us. I reached for my water because I started to feel thirsty. As I was about to take a sip the words, “When your water supply is less than half full, turn back,” played through my mind. Thinking I don’t want to be the one that turns everyone around, I said to myself, “I can last a little longer before taking a sip,” and put my bottle back in my bag.
When we reached about a mile and a half from the campground, some of the older adults decided to turn back. The adults talked in their group for a bit before heading back. Meanwhile, some of the scouts were climbing around different rocks that were nearby. Most just sat and rested. Now, there were only 3 adults left on the hike and still, all 13 scouts treading through the Angeles National Forest. Ten of these scouts were on their first major hike.
We finally reached Mt. Baden Powell around 12:45 PM, an estimate of 4 - almost 5 hours of hiking. Everyone was exhausted just trying to get to the top of the mountain. An adult leader said,“Let’s take pictures, guys!” All replies were either a grown or a sigh. As everyone was resting in one of the shady spots, I asked,“How is everyone doing on water?” Four of the younger scouts said they were almost out. That’s when I knew that we should have checked in with everyone way sooner. The remaining adults and I tried distributing the extra water we had to those who were running low. No one wanted to continue after getting some rest in the shade, feet and legs felt less strained, backs felt less pressured and everyone could finally catch their breaths. “We need to get started so we don’t hike in the dark,” I exclaimed, trying to get everyone ready to head out. It was about 1:30 as everyone started hiking down the ridge of Mt. Baden Powell. I thought to myself - six more miles.
This time, I stayed in the back of the group catching any kids that begin to slow down or who needed more water. After about an hour of hiking, I could only see four people ahead of me, 1 adult and 3 scouts. Peter, one of the younger scouts, was in the back with me and he wasn’t feeling so well. He was breathing heavily as I tried to keep him moving while taking a break every once in a while. Finally, we caught up with the rest of the group as they were waiting further along the trail. I found out that 1 scout and two of the adults had kept going because the scout sprained his ankle and had to keep it from locking. I checked in with everyone to see where they were at with their water supply, only to find out most of the scouts were at the bottom of their bottles. Peter and a couple of the kids had begun to complain more as we started to hike again. After starting with 20 total people on the hike, we were now down to 13; 1 adult and 12 scouts.
Finally we were able to see the campsite, and I’d never felt so relieved. Though we were excited to be back at camp, it felt as if we were dead inside. I remember some of the scouts heading straight to their tents to get their food out and laid by the campfire. I checked to make sure my brother made it back safe, and all he said to me was, “You guys were walking slow, we made it back a couple hours ago.” And I just replayed everything that happened in the past four hours without him. My scout master hounded us because no one spoke up when they were low on water. She went over how dangerous it was for all of us to continue on that hike with low water and especially since the majority of the group lost track of the main trail. Ever since that incident, I always make sure to speak up, and communicate any problems with everyone on hikes.
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