This is part two of a five-part Q&A on Thomas Pruner, a hiker who died while hiking on Santa Cruz Island in California. Kurt Johnson, a friend of Pruner and part of the group on Santa Cruz Island, took some time to answer questions from Hiker Hell.
To read the original story, click here.
HikerHell: Many newspaper report that Thomas was showing signs of fatigue halfway through the hike. What was the group’s reaction to the fatigue, and, in hindsight, what signs should have you paid more attention to during the hike?
I was in the group that took the other hike, so I didn’t see Tommy until I ran up the trail to meet him after being alerted by one of our friends that hiked with him and had ran ahead to get help. As you can imagine, we’ve spent a great deal of time going over the events of that day together.
Fatigue is part of any strenuous activity. It’s not a huge surprise to see someone lagging behind, requiring more breaks. Having said that,…
we always take precautions when any one of us is exhibiting signs that they are struggling. We never leave anyone alone, and we adjust the pace to fit everyone’s needs. The other three guys that hiked with Tommy kept their eyes on him and attended to him. They shared their water with him, they rested with him and they carried his pack. As the guys talked along the way, Tommy commented that the hike was tough, but did not show indications that he was in serious trouble until he was almost back to camp. And his condition deteriorated quickly at that point.
There are two things that have changed for our group. Each one of our guys has either just turned 50 years old, or will soon. Tommy would have turned 50 next April. We need to start really listening to our bodies. Sure, it’s good to work hard and challenge ourselves, but we absolutely must be willing to heed any warning signs and be sure to communicate them to our partners.
That’s not to say Tommy had any warning signs to report. We still don’t really know the cause of death. The autopsy may disclose that there was an underlying health problem. At any rate, nobody likes being the one that slows the pace, asks for extra breaks, or turns back…but we will be sure to let pride take a backseat to caution.
Secondly, watch each other, monitor each others behavior, and go by what we see with our own eyes rather than what is expressed verbally by someone that seems to be seriously fatigued.
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