I thought about these two scenarios today. DS and I went pseudo-camping this weekend. (We did a "what if?" weekend with my mom to get her better prepped.)

My mom's trailer was at one end of the approx. 3 hour drive, and home was at the other. We had to take 2 major roads and 3 minor to get there. Although a pretty straight forward route, it's sporatically populated (by people and black bears) territory.

DS asked if we could explore some sideroads on the way home, and see if we could find a new route.

We had a backroads map book, our hiking kits, water bottles, tent, sleeping bags, thermarests and snacks so if we had a break-down we could have stayed or walked to the nearest town.

Problem #1 - no cel phone. We couldn't call DH or my mom to tell them where we were going and we also couldn't call for help.

My solution? Stick to the plan and have to make the choice.

Not sure what I would do in your scenario, Sue. I'm a play it safe girl, and both sides of your coin have inherant risks. DH would probably want to hike out and I'd likely sway that way too if it was just the two of us. We leave a huge breadcrumb trail along the way though.