The Road Barely Travelled

John Rhoads and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads were stranded for three days in the snow of eastern Oregon. The happy news is that they were rescued by a Lake County deputy who found the couple in the Winema-Fremont National Forest after they were able to make their GPS-enabled cell phone to get a weak signal and relay coordinates to a dispatcher. They were carrying warm clothes, water and extra food. Being prepared saved their lives.

Except they never would have been on that remote forest road in the first place if they hadn't been following the electronic advice from their GPS unit. The same GPS unit that brought help is the one that sent them down a path that got them stuck in a foot and a half of snow near Silver Lake. The Rhoads followed the twisting Forest Service roads for some thirty-five miles before their four-wheel-drive Toyota Sequoia became part of the winter landscape.

At what point would you start rethinking your allegiance to an electronic navigation device? After you've passed the same caribou three times? When the pavement has turned to a pair of wheel ruts, then nothing? How about when the big red line with the number on it turns into a little gray line with no number? I'm a big fan of straight lines, and I have a mild affection for shortcuts, but I think blizzard conditions would keep me on that big wide line with the red, white and blue sign on it. I'll use Google Earth, or Yahoo Maps, but if the road turns into a trail, I don't mind turning around. My brother-in-law likes to point out that all roads in these United States connect eventually. I just don't want to have to wait until I get pulled out of a snowdrift and get carried home on a stretcher to find out how.