There are often many decisions to make when mountain hiking and when in the wild we often have fewer resources available to help us, meaning that there are often no easy ways out, and usually less information to work with. And even when we have information, at some point we still have to make a decision with less information than we would prefer to have.
On a recent mountain hiking trip to the Adirondack High Peaks, a group of four of us had three major decisions to make, with limited information. The first of these was whether to abandon our first day's hike. The second of these was which mountain on the second day to climb first. The third was a decision of whether, on Day 3, to go ahead with our attempt to retry the first day's hike.
Day 1 began at the Upper Works parking lot, about the time a fast moving hurricane was lashing Upstate New York and the Adirondacks with steady rain and winds. Our first goal was to get to base camp, a 5.8 mile trek, then climb Mt. Marshall a 4.0 mile round trip from base camp. Although the hike to base camp was grueling, we were blessed to find a lean-to at the trail junction that leads to Mt. Marshall. So we unloaded our heavy gear and grabbed our day packs. The problem was that the trail to Marshall's summit crossed a steep mountain stream at least a half dozen times. When we were about a mile in, we noticed that fhe stream velocity was becoming faster and more treacherous every time we crossed it. At one point I recall placing my hiking pole it the swiftly flowing water, and learning first hand the hydraulic principle of flow induced vibration, as the water flow noticeably vibrated the hiking pole. As the rain continued, it finally dawned on us that we'd have to descend, and cross the stream the same number of times on the way down too. At that point we stopped, discussed the situation and decided that the best decision was to get everyone back to base camp in one piece, cook a hot meal and get rest for the Day 2 hike.
The objective on Day 2 was to climb Cliff and Redfield. Soon after crossing over the Colden Dam we came to the trail junction where the trail to Cliff went one way and the trail to Redfield the other. So which do we decide to take first? Although we were not certain, we figured the trail to Redfield would be more traveled with fewer stream crossings than we were presented with climbing Marshall. So the four of us scaled Redfield successfully and returned to the trail junction where we made our first decision. So far so good. The next decision we had to make was do we try and hike Cliff too? We had a late start on Day 2 it was getting late, and Jim and I (the two 60 year olds) were pretty gassed from the hike to Redfield. So we agreed that Tim and Bunny (the two 30 year olds) would hike Cliff and that Jim and I would return to base camp. That also turned out to be a good decision because we found out later that Tim and Bunny found Cliff to be brutally muddy and dangerous hike. They struggled to climb it and get back before dark to our base camp. Meanwhile, Jim and I, who definitly should not have attempted that climb, were able to get our base camp better organized and ready for dinner and for Day 3.
We decided that we must hit the trail to Marshall (take two) by 8 AM the next day. We did so, and got up and down the mountain by 1:30 PM. The climb to Marshall was much easier on Day 3. The sun was shining brightly and streamflow was greatly diminished. Views from the top were beautiful. So by waiting for a better day we had a much more enjoyable and successful hike. The hike out, with 30 lb. backpacks was tiring for sure, but we had enough success hiking and enjoying God's creation on our trip to feel filled even though we were exhausted.
I've come to believe that hiking expeditions have helped me to become a better decision maker in business and in other life matters. When I'm not out hiking and I have all sorts of backup systems in place I can tend to be a sloppier thinker. When I am out on the trail, however, I can much less afford to make a poor decision. The principles I've possibly learned are:
- Assess the conditions with the information you have.
- Decide with others on a plan, then test it mentally before implementing it.
- Keep assessing conditions and checking in with the team as you carry it out.
- Follow through once you've made the decision.
- Accept the reality that sometimes the best and safest decision is to abandon the effort and accept that there may be a better day and time to follow through on your original plan.
- Learn from all your decisions, good and poor, by reviewing the steps you took and why they did or didn't work out.
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