One question I'm interested in is whether they had a map with them. You cannot really tell from the publicized stories whether they got lost or whether they just got stuck. From all the different roads you mentioned though, it does sound like they may have had another simple misstep in not having a map and/or GPS.

After all, the best means of surviving any dangerous situation is to flat-out avoid it in the first place.
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“Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee. Sometimes old people hike by mistake.” — Demitri Martin