This was the point of turnaround on our last attempt, where we had found iced-up ledges and extreme sketchiness, along with bad weather and, while we're telling truths, dwindling interest.

By the time that we made it to the summit of Saddleback this time around, my foot and ankle were on fire, I was hobbling somewhat severely, I had heavily medicated on everything in the drug kit, but there was no way I was turning around with only three peaks to go, beautiful weather and the facts that: 1) we were making excellent time, 2) we really weren't all that psyched to come back a fourth time.

On the way up to Saddleback's summit we heard several voices. We had only seen two other parties so far: a man and woman on Gothics and a lone hiker at the Gothics/Saddleback col. Just below the summit and above the hidden downclimb off Saddleback, we ran into the bodies from which those voices bellowed. Two gals, one guy. Lost. They had apparently been following a circle around the summit of Saddleback for some time.

To really get into the matter would get me going on the negative aspects of the backcountry, of the sadness and danger involved when folks get in over their heads. But why should that stop me?

These people were in the most remote part of the High Peaks you could possibly imagine, completely unprepared, no map skills (they didn't even know where they were and the guy was pointing at peaks and naming them - identifying them as mountains that in fact were on the opposite side of the range), low on food, no light, no bivy gear, late in the day. They talked of turning around; in fact, the loudest of the three repeatedly complained that the other two were slow and voiced concern that they wouldn't make it out tonight. We tried to offer constructive support (i.e., turn around), but it was falling on deaf ears.

They asked us if we knew the way down Saddleback (they didn't even know which mountain they were on) and we said we had never been past here, but it looked like the downclimb was... right here. They jumped in front of us. James and I looked at one another, then put the hammer down. We passed them a few minutes later.