I was just reading this article about two local hikers who got lost on a day hike on Mt. Baldy. Everything started out so innocently, as these things always do.

There's this one scene that the reporter describes that sent a chill down my spine. It was pitch dark that night. One of them had a headlamp but when she turned it on, the batteries immediately died. So they kept hiking in the darkness and to keep from walking off a cliff, they would toss pebbles in front of them as they walked. At one point, they toss a pebble in front and there's no sound. So they turn around and head back but suddenly tossing a pebble in that direction also results in silence. Uh oh...

Fortunately, they're both fine. There are a series of points in their ordeal where they might have done something differently, such as being off-trail when they first spot fog, when the guy injures himself, when they realize their only light source is useless at night, etc. As an educational exercise, putting yourself in these same decision points, with exactly the same gear (or lack of), would you have done things differently and if so, what would you have done at those decision points?