Are you more likely to get lost going up or going down?
Quick question: Are you more likely to get lost going up a mountain, or on your way down?
Answer is: going down. This is true for several reasons.
Terrain features like ridges and gullies diverge you go downhill away from a summit, magnifying the mistake of choosing the wrong feature.
On the way down, you’re physically and mentally more tired, so you're more prone to navigation errors.
Returning to your last known point (usually the best way of getting unlost) usually involves going back uphill, which sucks. It's easier to keep going down, which can turn slightly lost into completely lost.
