You wrote:
If you do walk out always walk downhill and follow the river to safety. He walked a 16 mile circle on the logging roads...
However if he could have got down to the stream it would have led him to the Rogue which has a well maintained trail and houses w/in 15 miles.
You seem unaware that he did NOT walk a "16 mile circle on the logging roads", that he DID "walk downhill" and attempt to "follow the river to safety". He DID get "down to the stream" which would have led him to the Rogue. It's where he was found dead, in Big Windy Creek not far from the Rogue. Look at the map again here.
Because.
When you find out a battery has a dead cell, you quit wasting time trying to charge it.