Hi Tom...

It makes sense that the solo guide would have the sat phone. When I did OB sat phone technology was only for the military, and cell phones were yet to come into being (this was even pre-car phone days). We were alone in the woods for days with no means of communication. I don't know when OB started carrying sat phones, but I really don't see the fact that they didn't have one as that big a deal. But I agree... why didn't the group wait for the guide to return? Boredom? Teenage energy? Would it have made a difference if they'd waited or would they have still gotten misplaced? Of course they'd have had the sat phone if the third guide was with them, but did they think they were lost? My OB group wandered aimlessly through the woods for most of our 3 week trip - at times we were on trails and at other times we were cross-country. We never considered ourselves hopelessly lost, even though at one point we were most definitely in the wrong place and off the maps we had with us. So, I don't know if the outcome would have been any different had they waited for the third guide to return.

MNS