Last weekend I made my first venture out this fall/winter carrying my full day hike pack. I broke my shoulder in the summer and wanted to test my ability to carry the pack before we take our Scout group to winter camp next weekend. I've been using a smaller, single strap pack so far this year, but I'll be the senior leader for our younger kids next weekend, we're planning a long hike and I want to be prepared. Yup, I've got a back-up plan to carrying everything myself - other leaders and parents with us and are prepared share the load.

The full pack was definitely overkill for this hike but not so for next weekend. Anyway, I definitely overpacked and need to re-evaluate what I've got with me. My shoulder didn't hold up well so I'm rethinking my gear list, specifically with regard to weight. I will not compromise our safety.

Back the test hike and the reason for this post. My husband, two kids and I left at 3pm for a loop at a local marshland. We let the neighbors know where we were going, just in case. It's not far from civilization and not a difficult hike at all. We saw two other people on the trail and my husband and daughter had their cel phones with them. It was not a difficult hike and not very risky, though with a seven year old with ADHD, you never can tell what's going to happen. We usually average about two hours on that route, putting us on target to get back to the trail head just as the sun was setting. If someone had fallen and broken an ankle or something it wouldn't have been life or death, just uncomfortable for a while.

In this situation, I'm wondering what prompted the S&R response. Had our family choosen to stay out past dark, we weren't violating any rules. No camping is allowed but there are no time restrictions on using the area. We would have called the neighbors so they wouldn't worry, but if the S&R guys showed up just because we didn't make it back to the car by dark, it would have been totally useless. There was a small day pack in the backseat, along with an extra jacket. Would that have been enough to send in the calvary? Did she leave a note inthe window, outlining her intentions? Who knows but it makes me wonder too if she got the bill for the rescue, like so many of us on the forum have advocated for when S&R activities are abused. In this case, it wouldn't have been her "fault".