Nice analysis, Night Hiker.

I appreciate the thoughtful comments of everyone. I appreciate the fact that people took the time to go beyond the surface and to probe a bit.

The drawbacks of group dynamics have been alluded to in earlier posts. Indeed, there have been studies that have reported that groups are more likely to have accidents in the wilderness. Some of it may be due to peer pressure. Some of it may be due to "I'm with a group; I feel safe" thinking.

In other words, the idea that solo travel is in and of itself more risky isn't necessarily true. The idea that it's safer to travel with a group assumes that the individuals don't relax their vigilance when they join a group, a poor assumption.

It sounds like for most of us the issue isn't whether or not to go solo. Maybe the issue is more where to draw the line as to which trips we'd be willing to do solo.

For me: A walk in the local canyon on the established Forest Service road where I know that I'll see a dozen people? No problem. I do it solo all the time; it's my regular training hike.

A remote cross country ramble on steep, rocky, loose ground in patchy snow conditions? I'd think twice about doing something like that solo.

HJ