Shoutout to the guy who told me about the trail marker near Lake Serene

Honestly, I got completely turned around trying to find the turnoff for the Boulder Creek Loop in the North Cascades. The map said it was obvious, but I spent like two hours backtracking before a day hiker pointed out the small rock cairn hidden behind a fallen log. Has anyone else had a simple trail junction eat up that much time on what should have been a straightforward day?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_adams19d ago

Oh man, I feel this. I once spent forty minutes circling the same three trees because I swore the trail went left. Turns out the "trail" was just a deer path I got really committed to. My own stubbornness is my worst navigational hazard.

aaron_wilson1718d ago

My buddy Mark got us lost for two hours last fall because he refused to check his phone map. He kept saying he knew a shortcut from a fishing trip ten years ago. We ended up so far off the trail we had to call for a ride from a dirt road. Sometimes that stubbornness isn't a hazard, it's just being plain wrong.