Plan B, then Plan C, then...

First the one, then the other:
broken glasses.

Glasses: devices we use to see things clearly. I broke two pairs of them today.

On the first, somehow the connector that held the "temple" to the hinge just pulled apart. One moment the glasses were on my nose; the next they dropped in my lap. The screw was still in place, but they didn't hold together and weren't usable.

No problem, I have a spare. Unfortunately during the time it had been carried about in my backpack, it had gotten a bit out of shape and kept falling off my nose. In bending it back into shape, it promptly snapped at the nosepiece.

Now the backup was busted. What are the chances TWO pairs of glasses would break in one day?

I had stashed a third set in the car for emergencies — I'm using that pair now. I've mended both the broken ones, and they will do in a pinch until I get new ones. Yaay for duct tape, bamboo kebab sticks and E6000 glue.

So how is this relevant to the upcoming adventure?

Bad things can happen, whether you're prepared or not. When you hear of people who run into trouble in the wilderness, it's usually not because ONE thing went wrong, or even two things. It's because there was a cascade of events: an accident, a change in the weather, equipment failure, and sometimes poor decisions. Even good decisions, which are based on information available at the time, can have bad outcomes.

In the movie All is Lost, things just kept going wrong, even though the sailor (played by Robert Redford) dealt with each issue with calm, deliberate action.

In Alaska, the highway from Fairbanks to Deadhorse is 500 miles on a mostly gravel road. For just the reasons mentioned above, it's recommended that travelers carry TWO spare tires. That's also one of the reasons — even though I have a tough, relatively new Toyota 4Runner — that I won't be taking this particular highway, at least this time around. I just don't have room for a second spare, and I'm not happy with the other Plan B (Toyota extended care and my Spot locator with road service backup).

Two tires can still go flat, just like two glasses can break in a day.

I can see that quite clearly now!