Not every trip needs a spreadsheet. A two-day mountain weekend, planned with nothing more than a rough direction and a full tank of gas, tends to produce better stories than the meticulously scheduled version — mostly because there’s room left for the unplanned turnoff, the diner that looked interesting, the trailhead nobody mentioned online.
The only real preparation worth doing in advance: check the weather, tell someone your rough route, and bring more water than you think you’ll need. Everything else can be figured out once you’re there.
