I’d like to say this only happened once, but no — I managed to get lost twice on the same trail within the same month. Before you judge, the trail wasn’t marked well. Or maybe I wasn’t paying attention. Possibly both.
The first time, I followed what I thought was the main path until it slowly turned into a deer trail. I kept walking anyway, because apparently my brain thinks “maybe it’ll fix itself” is a good strategy.
Spoiler: it didn’t.
The second time was worse. I confidently told a friend I “knew the trail now.” I did not know the trail now.
But I learned a few things:
– trust your gut when something feels “off”
– check trail markers more than once
– download offline maps
– don’t let pride be your compass
And honestly… getting lost wasn’t that bad. The PNW has a way of making mistakes feel like adventures — as long as you make it back.
