Recently on a September Sunday, my wife and I woke up early to hike to the summit of Mount Timpanogos in Northern Utah, near our home. Per our very limited research, the climb was 14 miles round trip with over 6,000 feet of elevation gain. As we arrived in the parking lot a Park Ranger greeted us and told us that unless we had a parking reservation, we would have to park one mile away at the overflow parking lot. We did not, so we drove over, parked and started to hike to the trailhead. Unfortunately, we made a wrong turn and did not discover our error until we dead-ended at a clearing and had to trudge back half a mile. We did so, then proceeded to the parking lot. As we reached the trailhead, we had already hiked two miles and were a little frustrated. This was just the beginning of our day. By the time we reached the summit, then hiked down we had traversed a total of 19 miles. A full 35% more than advertised. We had run out of water and patience. In the morning, we had cheerfully discussed how we hoped we would arrive home by dinnertime, but did not get back until 9 pm.
This is the result of poor planning and limited research. This was just a day hike, and the stakes were low, but what if your new home comes in 35% over budget because of poor planning? Make sure you get a ‘Parking Reservation,’ and talk with me about the Pre-Design Diagnosis that will fully explore all of your options to make sure that you set off on the design trail with the right information at your fingertips.