The trail we picked was supposed to be easy: 3.5 miles, gentle incline, scenic overlook. Mom’s strategy was hydration, steady pace, and watching for trail markers. Jess’s strategy was sprint-first, ask-questions-later. Within the first half mile Jess had already taken three wrong turns, scaled a boulder “for the gram,” and coaxed us into what she called a “shortcut” (spoiler: it wasn’t). We ended up adding a mile of bushwhacking and discovering a patch of wild blackberries, which made the extra effort worth it.