Timberline Lodge is luxury accommodation, I doubt this hiker could have afforded to stay there. We don't know what the hikers plans were once they got there. Did they have a vehicle? Did he have a plan to return to Arizona? What was going on with him, personally, and in his relationship with the friend?
I remember going to a mountain hut in Western Canada 15 years ago, where there was a 30ish guy basically crawling around. He said he had injured himself climbing, and after spending some time camping on a ledge had made it as far as the hut, with help.
His main concern was he had no money. He didn't want to have to pay to be rescued by helicopter. He didn't want to pay for cabs and all the other special measures he would have to take to cope with his lameness in the world below. I now think he probably didn't have a home to go home to. He just hoped if he hung around long enough, begging food from other climbers, he would heal. I don't know what happened to him, it was a long, challenging hike back down to the parking lot.
I also remember seeing a guy on a backpack trip, who had just been abandoned by his 'friends' because he couldn't keep up. I think now he was just not acclimated to the height and probably had heat issues. I was with a group that was very intent on moving forward and didn't want to stop. I connected him with some people who were going back down and asked them to please take him with them and ensure he was okay.
Anyway, the dynamics of people out there can be very weird. People are impatient and don't want their trip spoiled by someone in trouble (including themselves). People in trouble often don't want to ask for help, they feel it makes them look weak. They just hope everything will somehow work out. But the body can only be pushed so far by the macho brain.
