PSA: Don't take route advice from a guy named 'Mountain Mike' in a bar in Moab

Last April I was in Moab having a drink before a solo hike on the Poison Spider Mesa trail. This older guy at the bar, calls himself Mountain Mike, told me to skip the main path and take a 'secret shortcut' he marked with a pile of rocks. Said it would save me 2 hours. Well, 3 hours later I was lost on a cliff edge with no water left and had to backtrack using my GPS. The shortcut was just a dead end washout. Has anyone else had a local give them bad trail advice that sounded too good to be true?

2 comments

2 Comments

seanh9127d agoMost Upvoted

Mountain Mike sounds like he's just trying to help, honestly.

skylerg1727d ago

@seanh91 I used to be the same way, I thought locals were just trying to point you toward something cool. Then I took a shortcut from a guy in a bait shop up near Lake Almanor and ended up bushwhacking through poison oak for two hours. That changed my mind real quick. Mountain Mike probably means well but a guy who names himself after a mountain is probably more interested in the story than your safety. Better to stick with the map and save the secret shortcuts for people who like surprises.