Hiking Separate And Meet Up

My mantra has always been, "There is no hurry."

I tend to take my time and will stop often to enjoy the view. With the high mountains around here that may mean, "catch my breath". One group I'll do day hikes with is organized by a person who insists that we all stay together. I can understand that because many of the participants are not routine hikers and not familiar with the area. But, I stop and take pictures and she wants to press on. I'll mostly comply because when I do these hikes, I accept her premise. If I didn't I would choose to not go.

My wife and I hike together. That doesn't mean that we hike at the same speed---I hike faster, even with a heavier pack. But I stop very so often to make sure we're on the same page, and the same trail. So I try to keep her more or less in visual contact--and always stop at every junction (and most stream crossings, etc.)

plus I am the photographer, so that's another reason to stop.

Hiking with her is one of the really wonderful things.

Also, for this to work you assume your hiking partners are all accomplished solo hikers with route finding skills that will keep them on the trail. In the U.P. this summer I backpacked with a fast walking newbee. I gave him strict orders about hiking ahead, where and when he was to stop and wait, still almost lost him. For awhile I have him stay between me and Coolkat.

It's natural for me to assume others have the same level of trail skills that I have when I am out backpacking.

What I recommend when hiking with others. Select a meeting place for the night based on realistic and doable daily mileage for the slowest hiker. Then let everyone go at there own pace and arrive at that location whenever. It works for me. On the JMT all daily goals were about 10- 12 miles. The JMT via Horseshoe Meadows was about 235 miles or so. 10 miles a day would give you 23.5 trail days. Todd was going to be picked up by his wife on a certain day at Happy Isles, Yosemite. He didn't want to get into Happy Isles until the day before at the earliest. with that understanding we set realistic daily goals and had no problem meeting them.

My cousin is one of my most frequent hiking partners but we have totally different styles of hiking. He's a put your head down and just walk util the end of the day. I'm more of a stop and smell the roses kind of guy. We usually set a place to meet at night to camp and that may be the only time we see each other. Other times he'll stop for lunch or a break and I'll catch up with him. Seems to work fine for us.

Consider 2-way radios to allow you to split up but still be in touch. I've backpacked with some guys out in Yosemite who use radios all the time, and I was dubious about how useful they can be until I was out with them. Allows them to split up but still be totally flexible to change plans and coordinate while miles apart.

My wife and I, on trail, will start out together. If the trail is new we will stick together. If we are familar with the trail we may seperate or stick together. A rule we have is that, even on familar trails, at each trail junction, the one in the lead stops and waits for the other to arrive. Another rule, is that if we seperate and we stop for a potty break we leave our packs at the side of the trail.

When we are off trail we stick together

I've done so much solo that if/when I am with a group, I much prefer the "hike your own hike". Set places to meet for lunch and maybe a few others but more likely "where's camp gonna be?" and we all get there in our own time.
However, better be sure your trailmates know what they're doing because it could get bad if they don't.