Solo route on the PCT turned into a detour nightmare

I was about 12 miles past Donner Pass when I took a wrong turn on a snow patch and ended up in a steep gully. My map was wet and useless, so I had to backtrack 3 miles by following my own boot prints. Has anyone else dealt with a total route failure and just had to wing it to get back on track?

4 comments

4 Comments

victor7791mo ago

Mistaking your own boot prints for fresh tracks is a special kind of fun.

miles_hall1mo ago

Yeah the "special kind of fun" part is generous, I'd call it more like a special kind of embarrassing. Nothing like feeling like a master tracker for five seconds before realizing you've been following yourself in circles. At that point you just have to laugh and pretend you meant to do it.

victorh811mo ago

ha, you ever done that thing where you walk back to double check your tracks and then realize you're just making it worse? i did that last winter, spent ten minutes going in circles convinced a deer had to be around the next bush. finally looked down and yeah, my own damn boots. felt like a cartoon character.

jessica1301mo ago

wait hold on @victor779 said WHAT? mistaking your own boot prints is a special kind of fun?? lol i gotta disagree hard on that one bro. that is straight up humiliating, not fun. i've done the same thing out in the woods behind my uncle's cabin and i swear i wanted to dig a hole and climb in it. spent a good 15 minutes tracking "deer" that was literally just me walking the same loop twice because i got turned around in the snow. felt like the biggest idiot alive haha. victor if you think that's fun you must have a way higher tolerance for embarrassment than me lmao