The role-playing begins almost immediately the first day after we arrive at the Lincoln Woods trailhead. In what will become a recurring theme during the next three days, group members are recruited by Hogan and Broderick to disrupt the hike using a variety of tactics—stalling, racing, veering onto the wrong trail, ignoring instructions, complaining, and sometimes disappearing altogether. Some role-plays are mildly irritating, some aggravating, some wearisome. Others are ingenious. All are designed to challenge us, to "get you thinking on your toes," says Broderick.

"It's our job to cause you discomfort, to push the envelope, in order to get you thinking like a group," adds Hogan. "This isn't Baywatch."

At one point, Behroozi and I are simply chatting away at the front of the group, when a third member comes alongside and starts challenging Behroozi's leadership, insisting that she was abdicating her post by letting me set the pace. "Isn't that what a woman is supposed to do?" answers Behroozi, trying humor to disarm her antagonist. When that doesn't work, she simply allows the annoying member to continue up front with me, saying she's dropping back to check on the rest.

"You never know if someone's role-playing or not," she says.

Chaos Happens
"I've learned I never want to lead a group," says Eva Borsody Das. Her comment comes in response to Hogan asking us to assess a mid-hike role-play where one group member falls ill, another panics, and three more get lost. Das is smiling, and we all share a nervous laugh. Still, it's clear that Das is only half-joking, and we recognize the underlying truth of her comment—there's a great deal of accountability in leading a trip.

"As a leader, you're responsible for everyone in that group, from start to finish," says Hogan, hammering home one of the school's bedrock principles.

The role-play, which occurs under my newly appointed watch as co-leader with Laurie, is a backwoods version of the Keystone Cops. At the juncture of the Lincoln Woods and Wilderness trails, Behroozi ambles away and doesn't respond to my calls. When I reach her, she is shaky, unwilling to make eye contact. My utter lack of first-aid knowledge has me completely flustered, though I manage to maintain an unruffled exterior. I sit her down. Behroozi, a doctor, keeps dropping hints that she's hypoglycemic, a common trailside malady, but the hints don't register.

Before I can assess her condition, Davis is on me, asking "What's wrong?" in a high-pitched, agitated voice. Attempts to calm him are fruitless. I ask Laurie to watch Behroozi while I try to distract Davis. Meanwhile, John Simmons, apparently queasy at the sight of Behroozi's illness, takes shelter in the woods. Trying to be responsible, I send Das and Mark Kern after him.

"Now you've got three people missing," says Hogan, ending the role-play.

"Yep, a disaster," I reply, admitting that my brain was on overload as I tried to keep everything, and everyone, together.

Hogan, calling on his 10 years as a trip leader and wilderness EMT, uses the role-play to teach several lessons. The first is the need to remedy my obvious lack of first-aid training. But I also learn the importance of keeping the group together, keeping an eye on the big picture ("myopia hamstrings the leader," he says), being decisive, and being able to delegate to ensure that everyone in the group has a role.

"Different people react differently in a crisis," says Hogan. "You'll always find people who are useless during an emergency. Give them something to do."

Hogan explains that the leader's role during an emergency is to act as "command central." If one member falls apart, a simple job—taking inventory of the group's gear, for example—can be enough to distract him while others tend to the matter at hand.

 Leader of the Backpack intro  |  Invitation to Adventure  |  Nuts and Bolts  | Everyday Interruptions  | Turn Me Loose  |  Safety, First and Foremost  |  The Road from Here  |  Tips for Leaders