Chose the Ruby Crest Trail over the Sierra High Route last August, and my knees are still mad about it
I picked the 40 mile Ruby Crest in Nevada over the Sierra High Route because a guy at the trailhead in Lamoille said the talus on the high route would wreck me solo, and honestly he was half right, so now I'm wondering if anyone else has bailed on a bucket list route for a shorter one and regretted it.
Did the same thing with the Wonderland Trail after a guy at the ranger station talked me out of a bigger loop in the Winds? My knees were fine but my head kept asking what the harder one would've felt like.