My Wife, Son and I spent last week in King's canyon/Sequoia. One day was spent on a 12 mile (round trip) hike. We carried a pack with food, water, light jackets and a few general survival items. There was no cell service.
A friend of mine had described the trail as easy and it was for the most part. It only gained ~1600' of elevation, most of it in the last 2 miles. We took our time and with an 11 year old stopping for every interesting bug, it took us 8 hrs in and out.
Wife and kid, shortly after reading a sign that basically said "Don't fall into the river because people drown in it regularly." They wanted to go out further to where the water was moving fast under the tree but I said no...
A teenager died near this point last year after slipping on slick rock, falling about 50' and cracking his skull...
Beautiful views of glacier-carved granite everywhere...
The last section of the trail did me in. We live at sea level and hiking to 6500' the first day of being in thin air doesn't agree with me. I was getting a headache, light-headed and had to stop to rest frequently. My 'mountain goats,' who never seem to tire at any altitude, kept calling back to 'grandpa' to keep up.
At 5:00 PM, they wanted to keep on but I noted that we'd seen nobody on the trail for over an hour, dark clouds were rolling in and the temp had dropped about 20 degrees in half an hour. I used my veto power; it was time to turn back.
A ways down the trail ahead of me I heard the Wife yell at my Son. He wasn't paying attention to where he was walking and was coming close to this rattler...
I ran down to see what the problem was and in so doing slipped and fell hard at a steep area of the trail. My hip and shoulder slammed into rock and I slid down about 10'. I was okay but boy was I sore the next day.
The rest of the hike out was uneventful except for what my Son called "Devil Deer" (after he saw the eyes in this picture he took). He walked toward us with obviously evil intent and I raised my staff to within 2' of him before he turned away...
Anywhoo, we got back to the trailhead at 8:00 PM. Our truck was the only vehicle left. I asked "What could have happend today if one of us were injured and there was no help? What would we have done in the case of a snake bite, broken leg, etc? How could we have been better prepared if we had to spend the night up there?" We discussed it, took stock of what we had with us and decided that next time we would have more substantial 1st aid, means for making a shelter and more clothing (it got down to <40 degrees that night). We also determined that we would take a day for me to acclimate to the elevation before hiking, leave earlier in the day and plan our time better.
Anything else that would have made us better prepared?