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My brother pointed out that we always plan for distance, not for fun
We were looking at a trip in the Wind River Range and I was focused on hitting 60 miles in 5 days. He just asked 'but which campsite has the best fishing spot?' It stopped me cold. I realized my whole spreadsheet was about mileage and elevation, not about cool stuff like that one lake for swimming or the good sunrise view. Now I'm redoing my plan to loop past those spots even if it's a shorter hike. How do you all balance covering ground with actually enjoying the places you walk through?
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lindaw295mo ago
My Sawtooth detour taught me that too, 60 miles means nothing if you miss the good spots.
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wades766mo ago
Honestly, I used to plan every backpacking trip like a military campaign, down to the calorie count. Tbh, my best memory from the Sawtooths was ditching the plan to summit and just spending a whole afternoon skipping rocks on a random alpine lake. The spreadsheet never had a column for that.
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blair_davis506mo ago
Totally get what you mean, @wades76. I was the same way with my own trip plans. Your story about the lake is what finally made me see I was missing the point. Now I leave a blank page in my notebook just for the stuff that isn't on the list.
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