We were a group of six on a trek, my office colleagues (A and B) and my other college best friend and her sisters.
AB were walking ahead from the beginning while we were walking slowly at our own pace. The first day goes by, the second day A starts having cramps, I give her medicines , ask if she wants to rest, she says she’ll walk so I go ahead. I mostly walk alone this day, it was my first time in the mountains. I wanted to take it all in. My friend was somewhere usually in sight. I met AB often on the trail, ask them if they’re alright, give them chocolates and then start walking. I kind of notice rift between the two parties on silly things.
The next day, we hike up to see the sunrise. A has cramps still and we walk ahead. I reach the sunrise point first, and wait for others. A later shows signs of altitude sickness so I suggest her to descend, ask if I should come. They say they’ll go, I ask them to wait on the higher camp, and we’ll walk together. They call me to tell me they’re heading down, so I ask them to wait on the next stop so we have lunch together. We reach the next stop, they’re nowhere to be seen. I call them , ask them to eat and wait on the lower camp.
We reach lower camp, they’re not there, already left without informing us. The original plan was to stay the night in lower camp and head down the next day. The trail was steep ,and jungle trail and it was already 4 pm. The locals said they suggested them to wait for their friend but they went ahead. So we went into the jungle hoping to meet them , it was already dark and scary and there was no network. I was worried for them too. We couldn’t walk further in the dark so we stayed in the small lodge in the forest, calling them as soon as I got network.
Next day, we headed down. AB were already in the city, I asked them if they were angry with me, if I did something wrong. They said no but the vibe felt different. Since then things haven’t been the same with us.
So the question is AITA? Did I do something wrong here?
It seems like you had good intentions by trying to be independent and allowing AB some space, but it might have come off as inconsiderate to them. If they were unwell and you left them behind without clear communication, that could have added to their frustration. It might have been better to stick together or at least inform them properly of your plans.