High Sierra Topix

Any time you hike in a group of three or more you're always going to have some kind of group dynamic. You're going to have the know-it-all who thinks he's a physician, a mechanic, a chef and the second coming of Andrew Skurka. You'll probably have the doom and gloom dude who's sure it's gonna rain and you're not going to make it out alive. Hopefully if these are people you've gotten to know over the years, you'll know their idiosyncrasies and they will make the trip that much more interesting.

Ahem! There are certain attributes about this hiking partner that far out weigh anything yet mentioned.
These girls are fun as well.
But I always prefer to have my #1 Girl with me.
-Russ

I'm pretty sure I can't invite "Sport" on one of my trips. Wife would not approve.

Your other girls, yes. Bubba would be right at home with them. Gotta love a dog as a hiking partner. they never take anything personally.

Folks already know my answer to this one. Of course my wife is my no. 1 backpacking partner through more trips than I can count (plus fishing something like 600 different backcountry lakes with me). I am fortunate enough to have married someone who was capable of getting to any spot in the Sierra and enjoying it. If Judy and I hold together long enough I hope my kids will also qualify as ideal backpack partners but they are nowhere on Judy's level yet in terms of hiking toughness. Yes, I have been lucky: my no. 1 mountaineering partner was my dad and my no. 1 backpacking and fishing partner is my wife (who is also my no. 1 drinking buddy and co-brewer, too).

I have had many backpacking partners and NONE of them were "ideal". In fact I probably would not enjoy going with a clone of myself. Each had their good points and bad points. That is just how humans are! I am less fussy about backpack partners than I was about climbing partners, who actually hold your life in their hands. I am pretty obsessive about trip planning, so most people I go with are the type who do not mind that I already have put together a route. However, I do enjoy just going along with someone else's plan - kind of nice to not have to think about it - just go along for the ride. One thing I insist on is that we stick together or if hiking separately, have frequent meeting spots. Nothing worse than having your hiking partner "go missing". Some of my best trips were with my very competent outdoorsman manic-depressive friend- yes I had to put up with a few depressive moments, but then you could not beat his enthusiasm when manic. I have had good trips with newbies too. I guess my only requirement is that my backpack partner not be a whiner/complainer and share in the work. If they are slow, I just slow down; if they hike faster, I just still go my pace and we plan to meet at regular intervals. I appreciate partners who share the cooking chores. Chatty or quiet - does not much matter as long as the chatty ones know when to button it up.

Wandering Daisy wrote:Chatty or quiet - does not much matter as long as the chatty ones know when to button it up.

That cracked me up!