[Phsstpok]

Friends and family did know where they were going (Gold Beach) and when they were supposed to arrive (including calls to the hotel to tell them they'd be late). They did NOT know what route they were taking, however. There are several from the last place there were spotted and their destination and, off of those, several small roads they could have strayed onto by mistake in bad weather. I'm betting that's what happened.

[steve86]

I thought they were navigating by GPS but that might have been someone's speculation. At any rate standard GPS highway mapping data would be inadequate in those rural areas and could lead to the wrong turn as you pointed out. It is hard enough to navigate forest roads in the summertime without taking the wrong side of a wye or a stub road, etc.