Today was a double-birthday hike for the WI group. We started out with 25 but the grandparents, their daughter and their twin toddler grand kids (adorable!) dropped out. One of the kids wanted to be carried instead of riding in a child carrier and that wasn't going to work for the adults.
We started in Pajarito Acres from Rio Bravo and took the "Unexploded Ordinances" Trail down into Potrillo Canyon. That's not really the trail's name but when one of the hikers saw the warning sign with pictures of unexploded ordinances, she dubbed it accordingly! We crossed Potrillo Canyon and ascended to the saddle between Potrillo and Water canyons. Then, down into Water Canyon and crossing that to pick up the Broken Mesa Trail.
The person leading us suggested that we go up the north side of the mesa rather than going the longer way around and up the rockier, steeper south side. I scouted ahead and found a route that looked doable by everyone. We all got up except for one woman who preferred going up from the south side.
On top, everyone looked at the small house ruin and kiva on Broken Mesa. I heard one woman wonder aloud "I came up to see that!" Obviously, it didn't impress her!
The plan was that everyone would eat their lunch back in Pajarito Acres so, therefore, most hikers didn't carry their lunch. People were now getting very hungry and wanted to start heading back. I started leading folks down the easy way we came up but didn't notice that the nominal leader took others down a different, steeper way. One hiker fell on the steeper route but was unhurt.
When we all got back to the Broken Mesa Trail, I asked about the woman who had separated from the group but no one knew where she was. As we crossed Water Canyon, several of us wanted to stop and make a head count but by that time, the group by had split into two.
At Water Canyon, I waited a while to see if the woman would show up but that created its own problems because then the group ended up waiting for me at Potrillo Canyon.
I hope the woman got back safely. I didn't attend the party so I don't know if she eventually showed up. I will make a greater effort in the future to keep closer track of everyone. I myself should have told someone that I was waiting behind. Things can get confusing in a large group.
People said that the missing woman lives in White Rock and would be able to find her way back but what if she had fallen and couldn't walk? The group called her cell phone but could only leave a message.
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