Walking with difficult people

[sim1oz]

Glad you found someone who 'walks your walk', Phil. I enjoy walking with other people as long as they are not 'difficult' - which has been described so aptly above. Luckily for me, the person I started bushwalking with is the person I still enjoy walking with the most. We can walk for ages in 'companionable silence' and then stop in the same instant to remark on something that has caught our eye. It always makes us laugh at how in-sync we are.

I've never had anyone outright lie to me about their abilities or preparedness before. Grrr! Can definitely understand why after a few unpleasant experiences like that people would prefer to walk solo.

[David M]

I once walked with a fellow in the mountains who decided he was going to save weight by leaving his sleeping bag and mat in the car. I pleaded with him not to but he said he would be fine in his sleeping bag liner and thermals. Anyway we went on the walk and we finished after dark and I discovered he had a vintage incandescent torch which you could barely see with. It was a miracle he managed to put his tent up. As the night progressed he was miserable and cold and said he was going to sleep in the nearby hut. I said he couldn't sleep there because sleeping in the hut was only for emergencies and this was a case of incompetence, not an emergency...

[wayno]

i once slept without my sleeping bag, because i was too lazy to dig it out of the bottom of my pack for three hours of sleep, had fleece from head to toe but was still a cold night, didnt sleep much. not a mistake I repeated in a hurry.... i'd certainly never deliberately go without a bag on a full nights sleep.. you can forget just how warm they can be insulating you from the worst of the cold at night...

[Zone-5]

I guy I hiked with brought a hammock! Yeah a hammock, what a surprise that was..

The only sleep he got was me letting him get a kip in my bag while I fixed breakfast.

[Dolerite Walker]

"Friend of a friend" is the telling aspect. As suggested by others, assess potential companions on a day walk before committing to a longer walk If this is not possible, err on the side of caution. Also beware inviting a friend who in turn invites a friend (who may then also invite a friend). Such a group structure should ring alarm bells. Needless to say, my walking companions are a small, select, proven group.

[Jaala]

I walked with another woman last year on a short 3 nighter. She professed to be experienced and I felt relief to see that that appeared to be the case looking at her gear, although it did appear to be very new. She complained the entire time, and I mean from a half hour into the walk. I realised when she was unable to pitch her tent there was a reason the gear seemed so new. She'd never used it before. Didn't know how to start a fire, refused to drink boiled water calling it "unsanitary", and basically threw a tantrum when I asked her to help pack up camp. She was so lazy we travelled 13km in two days. It took a lot not to just leave her there wallowing in her own self pity.

Lesson learned.

[wayno]

i used to walk with a club, too many women getting together yabbering non stop. spoiling the silence