travel and rhum

Yesterday I was faced with the same dilemma three times in a row and didn’t say something until the third time. And that was only because they initiated a conversation first. Coming down from a steep trail in the Mt. Greylock Reservation in MA with temperatures just above freezing (not sure what the wind chill was) I passed a young couple just starting up. They didn’t seem dressed for the cold and there was only an hour of daylight left. I figured they’d probably turn back before long but that steep hill was slick as snake snot with all the fresh fallen leaves (I almost wiped out three times and I had poles) and I figured they were in for a rough time in the twilight/dark. Didn’t say anything. Not my business? Next an old couple, very shaky on their feet. There’s no way they understood how steep the trail was about to get, but again I didn’t say anything and felt bad about it. Finally, just as I hit the parking area, another young couple this time without coats like they were strolling Boston Common on a spring day. He asked me if this was a good way to go to Greylock. I told him it was very far from there (the summit was 11 miles round trip and over 3000 ft gain) and gave him directions to the road up to the summit. Maybe it’s not the deep wilderness but the danger for these folks seemed real—hypothermia, falling injury.

TLDR: When do you say something to unprepared people who clearly have no idea what they’re doing? Would I just have been a jerk?

I am often plagued with needing to go pee while on a 3-6 mile hike. We're talking every 1.5-2 miles I need to go. My hiking partner never needs to go this often if at all. I don't have the same issue while at work or elsewhere. I don't drink lots of water before a hike nor on the trail. I do use a Talon 22 pack with the waist straps. Anyone else have this issue and how do you manage it?