When I first started backpacking and hiking I did trips I had no experience for. I didn't know it, till the first time I got myself into trouble. I lost my feelings of bravado quite fast as I ended up in a fast moving ice cold creek that was about to take me down creek. Or later when 3/4 of the way up a avy chute I realized that my "experienced" friend had ditched me, I couldn't get traction with my snow shoes and the run out was sharp pointy rocks below. That day I felt a fear that took me nearly 20 minutes to be able to breathe right. I crawled to a pile of rocks in the chute and clung there till I quit shaking like an earthquake, ate and figured out how the heck I was going to get up. I couldn't go down. And that is a fear one NEEDS. It keeps you alive!

I am a much more timid hiker these days - I still take risks, but I calculate every risk I take. I often without thinking ask myself "is it worth it?". "Will I put myself or others in danger?". I have a kid and a husband waiting for me at home, and nothing is worth it to never see them again.

I'd also add this: it is easy to laugh off that nothing will happen. And chances are, nothing will happen. But you never know. And if it does, can you live with the memory? This year in the GC, a good friend was on a trip with a group that included a mutual hiking partner couple who I had known for a number of years. The wife died during the trip in the GC. It affected everyone on that trip deeply. Her death has driven home to me even more so my feelings of being more timid with my decisions. What I used to laugh off I don't anymore. I take being dehydrated, heat sickness, etc very, very seriously. I realize that not every trip is worth the risk. Her death proved well that if something bad happens, it happens fast and there is little you can do to stop it.

So ask yourself this: is this trip worth it? Having hiked in group dynamics for years, it isn't the place we remember but rather the good times and the people, and how much fun we had exploring safely. The trips where things didn't feel so good safety wise become stories of lore that we tell new friends on what not to do. Getting out with good friends is half the trip. The other half is having a good time.

Proving manhoods should only be done if you have excellent insurance. And I mean that seriously. In the past couple years there have been a number of men lost on Rainier in non-guided trips who went in bad weather. And a couple cases of no insurance and leaving families behind. Very, very sad.That same thing happened to the family of a hiker nearby: SAHM and 8 kids. Very, very bad. The wives of your buddies should be asking exactly how much life insurance they carry!