Streams always flow downhill. Unless he managed to go over a mountain, the stream would have took him back to where he started.
little studying one should get a ham license always carry a small HT for such emergencies when all else fails ham radio will get through. Cell phones not always good communicators when in an emergency.
“Streams” in Oregon logging country can be a foot wide and flow under accumulated logging debris. I punched my leg through some debris while hunting elk In November. Got a hairline fracture of the fibula, but walked out. I just had the follow the Creek back uphill a few miles.