That one day on the Wonderland Trail where everything went wrong... and then right

We got turned around in a whiteout near Panhandle Gap, soaked and cold, only to stumble into a perfect, empty campsite at Golden Lakes. Has a single bad weather call ever led you to a better spot than you planned?

3 comments

3 Comments

gray_walker492mo ago

That's the best kind of trail magic. Getting forced off your plan can show you a place you'd have missed, and that quiet campsite feels like a real win after a tough day. What was the weather like when you finally got set up?

mason_knight2mo ago

Getting lost in a whiteout sounds pretty intense, not just a simple wrong turn. I have to wonder if pushing on in that was the best call, safety-wise. Gray_walker49 calls it trail magic, but sometimes a bad plan is just a bad plan. Finding a good campsite is a nice save, but it doesn't make the earlier risk okay. The real win is getting down safely, not just finding a quiet spot to sleep.

jana_henderson522mo ago

Honestly, I get where you're coming from. Staying safe is the only win that really matters.