[Diddle E. Squat]

Why would he have left the road in the first place?

Should be: Just speculating, but since they got lost trying to follow the roads coming in, perhaps he believed the road was NOT marked well enough with signs for him to find his way out of the maze.

[steve86]

It's generally pretty easy to get out of a mountainous area by following forest service roads which tend to converge, but it is much more difficult to get in to a specific place without having very good maps. Too many wyes and stubs.