One of them was a decent hiker buddy of mine and had always had some weird quirks like that but he’d never done anything this bad. Thankfully it was a group of 12 and losing 2 wasn’t that big of a deal other than worrying about them. Myself and 2 others were experienced enough to still handle the rest of the group but the hiker that had ditched us was the only one who’d ever done Paria before so it was pretty messed up. Turns out Paria is a one way in one way out canyon so it ended up fine.

Damn dude I wouldn’t hike with that guy again even as an experienced hiker that’s just a shitty thing to do. I had a similar experience in Paria Canyon when on the second day two of the most experienced hikers made it so far ahead we had to make camp without them. The next day I volunteered to get out early and basically jog for awhile to try to catch them. Eventually I decided enough was enough and waited for the rest of the group after not catching up to the two. We did 3 more days in the canyon without ever seeing them. Turns out they just hiked through the night with no regard for anyone else in the group and we haven’t hiked with them since.

What a terrible trip leader but also did no one notice he was gone when he fell behind?

This is the trip that broke my backpacking Cherry. So beautiful, I’ve done it every fall since and did it on Halloween last year. I carried a Jack O Lantern the whole way and back out just for some festive flavor. I’ve also harvested Turkey tail mushrooms on this trip a few times.