Finish the crossing to earn the point
A branch pair has horizontal thickness. Your companion can enter the opening and still hit a branch before leaving the other side. The point arrives only once the back of its collision circle is beyond that far edge. This is why a near miss can leave the score unchanged even when the companion looked partly through.
Each gap contributes at most one point. Turning around near a cleared gate does not create a repeatable source of points, and remaining alive without clearing another gap does not increase the score.
Compare like with like
Personal bests are stored for the course and companion. Classic and a dated daily trail have separate records, as do different companions. Switching the forest appearance does not create a different course record.
For a meaningful personal comparison, also keep your viewing setup similar. A wide window reveals more of the upcoming trail than a narrow one even though window shape is not a separate record category.
Separate a record from exploration
Exploration grows with every successfully cleared gap, including those in attempts that do not beat your best. Discoveries therefore do not require one uninterrupted run of the full unlock total. A short attempt can still add progress.
Centered crossings are tracked separately by the game and do not turn a gap into multiple score points. When evaluating an attempt, first read the gap score and best; then consider any discovery message. A challenge target must be exceeded, so matching the shared score is not the same as beating it.