Many of my guests come here to go hiking. Backcountry with no cell service is an hour walk from my house. We have good mountain rescue folks here, and we want to keep them from having to do rescues when possible.
I have a form that I ask guests to fill out and leave when they go hiking, asking for the trail name, their intended destination, time they are leaving, time they expect to be back, their cell number, and if they know, names of who will be with them.
I also ask them to sign the log books in and out at every local trailhead, so that if they have come back to the road system searchers will know.
I been hiking those trails since I was a toddler on my Dad’s back. Local folks rarely hike solo, except for the trail running hammerheads. It’s rugged country, mountains rising 3000 ft from sea level, many areas where VHF or cell phones don’t reach. It’s a rain forest so mountaintops are often in the clouds if it’s raining or drizzling.
If guest tell me that they will be hiking, I will share my knowledge of the trails, and try to make sure that they are properly equipped and have emergency food and raingear, even on a nice sunny day, since our weather can change quickly. Hypothermia kills more people than moose or bears!
Many of the trails go to former mines, now abandoned, with tunnels and shafts that are not safe. It’s not a place you want to be injured and alone.
And we have critters. Black and brown bears, wolves, coyotes, deer, an occasional lynx.
So yes, I’m right to worry about my hikers. My sightseers, not so much.