Ugh, that's such a waste of time.

My old apartment complex was full of these quick fixes. You start with one temporary repair, then it just becomes a permanent part of the building. It's a weird way things slowly fall apart.

It's easy to get caught up in the numbers and forget why you went out there in the first place. That guy by the creek had it figured out, he was actually getting the experience you were just walking past. My own trips got way better when I stopped treating the map like a scorecard. The goal should be to see cool stuff, not just cover ground.