i seem to recall recently reading, here i think, that when lost, contrary to widely-accepted belief, following a river downstream is not necessarily a good idea.

from the ap account:

" They brought a compass and a map but still lost their bearing, mistaking one river for another. They tried to follow the river, but that proved impossible many times, Flantz said. "

in my dayhikes, i've seen many stream dropoffs that would cause me to act like bear grylls, if lost and following a stream downstream. for me, no thanks.

just my $0.02.