9. Stay With The Group
If you can, it’s always a good idea to stay together if at all possible. This can increase morale and you’ve got more than one mind to solve potential problems. Also, the more-able person can help the less-able person. Sometimes, if it’s an emergency, it may be necessary for someone to leave for help or to try to find the closest cell service. In that situation, it is best that the person left behind is as comfortable as possible, has food and water and protection from the elements. It is also extremely important that this person does not wander away from where you left him or her and that they stay put. A man had to leave his friend somewhere on the Deer Mountain trail in order to get help because his friend was unable to make it the rest of the way down the mountain. Unfortunately, when help returned, they were unable to find the man who was left behind because he had wandered off, and they were unable to find his body until the following spring, where the man had gotten lost and fallen to his death. You or your friend does not want to be the next statistic. So, like a friend of mine in grad school used to say, “Make good choices.” No one really likes to be left behind alone because anxiety and fear can take over and consequential, irrational decisions can result.