Sipsey Trip (May 16/17)

Thompson Creek Trail Head to Needles Eye (1.5mi.):

We actually got rained on during the drive out and the whole Trip was pretty close to being cancelled before we got there.

Other Scouts:
They did very well all things considered, noone got injured or complained too much.
It was easy for me to forget how dis-oriented I was my first time down the trail - not to mention the entire area.
I was amazed at what some of them were wearing for footwear at times on the trail....air shoes and pool shoes.
We got to the site around 1pm. After setup and getting water, etc.
I was happy that they asked my opinion a lot since they knew I hiked there Before.
It was 2:30 and the head guy (the organizer) decided we'd all hike out to 'The Big Tree'. He'd been there before and wasn't concerned about the distance or time it'd take. I was concerned and offered my two-cents "get's darker ealier in here". At first, me and Matthew, opt'd out; Matthew didn't want to go and I wasn't much up to it either so I told him "we're going to opt-out". Then, Matthew changed his mind and we decided to go, trusting The leaders judgement about distance/time - mistake.
About 1mile in, already sweaty and tired, we bumped into some hikers coming the other way and I picked-there-brain about time/distance to 'Big Tree'.
They said it was another 3.5 miles. That was when I decided to grab Matthew, and head back, after notifying a couple of the other Dad's.
( I was a bit 'beside myself' with my lack of motivation in contrast to some Of the other Boys and Dad's who were obviously more out of shape and less better equiped than myself. But I wondered how many of them only went along Out of peer pressure over good judgement).
...Anyway, about 1/4 mile from the campsite it started to Thunder, then rain. We got back to our tent just before it 'opened up'. One lightning strick hit very close and scared the b'jeebus outta me just as I was getting in the tent. We took a nap, dry and warm . The rest of the group got back about an hour later, soaking wet, and they didn't make it to the tree.

They were probably lucky it rain when it did cause I think they would've had To contended with the darkness too had they gone on.

I struggled with whether I should be more vocal to the other Dad's about the time/distance or to just leave it to the head-guy (scout leader/organizer).
I left it to the head-guy after putting in my two-cents about the daylight (seeing as he'd been there before and I hadn't). I think he thought it was Closer than it actually was though.