Tape fixes everything, same as duct tape around the house.

The "bushwhacking through rhododendron" part got me because that stuff is basically nature's barbed wire and I have done the exact same thing, convinced I was only ten feet from the trail the whole time. My worst was an old forest service road that showed up on my map but in real life was a quarter mile of downed trees and blackberry vines, and I kept telling myself it had to open up around the next bend. It never did. Now I check recent trip reports and satellite views before I trust any old line, and if the last report is more than a couple years old I just take the main route. A shortcut that costs you 40 minutes and half your water is not a shortcut, it is a lesson.