If you use Google Maps on the regular, you'll be used to a solid blue line (yellow or red if there's traffic) on the car's route. I don't remember the first time I came across the dotted line, but I certainly don't remember having a hard time figuring out what that meant. Apparently this isn't the case for everyone, though.

Also, I'm a nove hiker at best, but even I know that there's essentially zero hikes where the shape of the trail is a nice arc across the map like the one in the story. I'm legitimately baffled that anyone would have thought that was a suggested path to the peak.