I loved that line, Steadman!

Let's go back to the teamwork concept. We haven't lead hikes in nearly forty years now, so we are only hiking with close friends/family, and in small groups of three or four, total. I amdire those of you who leads trips of larger, less connected groups. You will need your own set of rules for those---which is why we don't do them any more.

Teamwork means trusting your teammates. Trusting that they aren't complaining needlessly--they when they complain, they have a problem that is bigger than they can handle.

And it also means trusting that they are not asking you to do stupid things to for silly reasons of their own--like creating their own survivor show in their minds.

And maybe most importantly, it means being more or less on the same page when it comes to goals. In backpacking, that has a lot to do with what you want do, and what you want to see on the trip. For us, backpacking is supposed to be fun, not survival.

We never insist on completing our itinerary if it is making anyone of us truly uncomfortable or unsafe. Why? Not our style, and not in our interests. And we would never sign up for a trip that asked us to push our limits beyond what we thought was possible. Huh? I thought we were on vacation!

I am all in favor of people pushing their limits when it doesn't impact others. But please don't expect me to go on a trip with the expectation that maybe one of us is going to suffer so much that the others have to haul him/her out of there. Been there, done that, not interested any more.

Now when I ride a roadbike, I sometimes am pushed well beyond my confort level. But I am responsible for that. And I don't expect anyone else to pedal me home, ever.