travel and rhum

We decided to go on a moderate 3.8 mi hike this past weekend. Everything was good going up to the park and when we started the trail. There were a lot more people than we were expecting, and I had to catch up to him several times. He naturally walks fast, I’m not in bad shape so that’s not part of the issue. He will usually wait for me or stop and take a break with me.

After reaching the top, we decided to look for a spot to eat lunch near the waterfall. We had to climb a few rocks down to get closer. Nearby there is a man in his 40s with his young daughter and a group of younger men & women in the water (later on he tells me that the man was “checking me out” the whole time, to which I was oblivious.) After we finish eating and decide to head back up.

We have to climb up the same rocks and he goes first. He points to the rock he just climbed and stands there to help me at first. He is 6’2” so that rock was at shoulder-level. I tell him I’m going to try another way, and he says “Fine, good luck then” and walks away. I finally figure out how to get back up a few minutes later and catch up to him where he is waiting at the top of the trail. At this point I’m annoyed, and tell him he shouldn’t have just walked away. He says it’s cause I didn’t listen to him.

We start to make our way down the trail, and I notice he is walking super fast and my boot is untied. He’s about 10-20ft ahead of me with a crowd between us. I stop to tie my shoe quickly and look up and he’s gone. The whole way down the trail I don’t see him even once. In my mind, I’m thinking about how he has the car keys, the food, etc. and how I should’ve brought my own backpack. There is also obviously no signal, so if something were to happen to me I’d have no way to contact him or anyone for that matter.

He was just sitting there at the bottom of the trail and didn’t say one word to me. I was angry and upset, I asked him why he left me he just repeated that it was cause I didn’t listen to him. We argue on the way back down and he doesn’t acknowledge that what he did was wrong or even apologize.

I tried to talk to him about it the next day but we just argued more and didn’t see eye to eye. I’m more upset that he’s bent on being against me versus acknowledging that there was miscommunication on both ends and that it was a stressful situation. He keeps insisting that he didn’t technically “leave me.”

I don’t know what to really do or how to go about it. I feel like safety should’ve been the priority and I’m upset that he disregarded and disrespected me in that way. He’s stuck on me not listening to him, and now says I shouldn’t depend on him so much. I don’t feel safe going hiking with him again. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated on how to approach the situation.