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Because as people have explained repeatedly, (1) if you can change your outgoing message, you can call or text 911 and (2) it will use up limited power on your cell phone. You may need the power to use your phone as a light or to talk to rescuers. There's no way of knowing how long the power needs to last. If you had unlimited power (e.g., a solar charger in a sunny place), betting on this long shot would be harmless at best.
Tell me about a case where this has worked in real life and I'll change my mind.
I don't care if you change your mind. I've already explained the how and why. For some reason you aren't understanding it. Also it takes just a few seconds to change my VM and barely any battery.
Maybe the road didn't turn into dirt until they were already a good ways in - turning around such a long vehicle on a dirt mountain road would have been difficult if not impossible and backing that camper all the way back down the road would have been no piece of cake, either.
Adding - I haven't really gotten a look at the road they were on. A video of the route they took would be helpful to understanding why they chose to go on that road in the first place. My guess is that it wasn't obvious that the road was so rustic until they had already committed to being on it.
The "paved" road they were on from Dyer looked rustic already - from what I saw on google street view.
The "paved" road they were on from Dyer looked rustic already - from what I saw on google street view.
Eventually, someone will make a video of the road they took. It seems odd that someone would deliberately choose to take a camper towing a Kia "off roading" into treacherous terrain like that.
That's been my thought all along. I mean, you get to a gnarly road and most sensible people would say '....mmmmm....I don't think so, Mama, we need to turn this thing around.' especially in an RV towing a car!
Lessons learned here people.
Depending on the road, it can be very difficult to turn an RV around, especially when towing a car. I used to live on a dead end street, and once spent an entertaining 45 minutes watching a couple try to turn their RV around when they realized it was a dead end. Wife got out and tried to direct him, by the end it sounded like they were headed for divorce court, lol.
Eventually, someone will make a video of the road they took. It seems odd that someone would deliberately choose to take a camper towing a Kia "off roading" into treacherous terrain like that.
IDK but in a previous post I mentioned what happened to me. The difference is that I always carry emergency supplies. I don't want to but I could "hoof" it out with my back pack that holds 3 weeks of survival supplies. Honestly my biggest worry would be running out of gas.
I hate to break it to you, but unless your emergency pack weighs over 40 pounds, you do not have 3 weeks of survival supplies. You need about 2 pounds per day to hike. Less than that, you will not have enough energy to continue. If you have a good size pack, I'm betting you have more like 5 days of survival supplies. Still not a bad amount, but don't think that you are going to be hiking for 3 weeks with that.
I hate to break it to you, but unless your emergency pack weighs over 40 pounds, you do not have 3 weeks of survival supplies. You need about 2 pounds per day to hike. Less than that, you will not have enough energy to continue. If you have a good size pack, I'm betting you have more like 5 days of survival supplies. Still not a bad amount, but don't think that you are going to be hiking for 3 weeks with that.
This pack isn't for hiking for 3 weeks for fun. My pack is for 3 weeks survival. Anyone who knows what those rules are knows what to pack and how to pack it. This isn't a pack you throw together in a weekend. It took time, trial and error to put it together. It would suck if getting lost was the reason I had to use it. I'd rather bug out on my motorcycle for zombies instead of just getting lost.
Well, there is no Google Street View of any of the minor roads in that area - almost certainly because those Google vehicles won't go on dirt roads, and it's a barely settled, remote and quite frankly pretty irrelevant area anyway.
If you look at the roads in the vicinity that we do have Google Street View footage of, which are pretty much just the main roads you need to take to even get there - not only is the desolation of the area entirely obvious at first sight, but all the roads leading away from those 'main roads' are unpaved dirt roads.
Interestingly, if you search for a route on Google Maps from Albany, OR to Tucson, AZ the first option it will give you will take you to Reno then from there to Vegas and then past Phoenix to Tucson. It's not all Interstate, but mostly state or U.S. highways. That's the default option, and it would not have taken them to this area at all.
But if I choose as an option to avoid highways, then it will actually take you on the route they probably took - on U.S. Route 95 which will bypass the Reno metro and take you to Tonopah and then from there to Vegas.
There's a bunch of dirt roads leading off U.S. 95 in the vicinity of where they were stranded, but only one paved road - NV-265 - which leads to the tiny town of Silver Peak which is basically just a bunch of trailers based around a lithium mine. It's highly likely they took this road for one reason or another, and it's also highly likely they never made it to Silver Peak. That means they must have taken one of the dirt roads off NV-265 into those hills. Again, there's just no way to mistake that for anything other than what it is. Perhaps the initially flat terrain made them think the RV can handle it, perhaps the surface was dry and hard initially and only turned muddy as they progressed further into the hills. Either way, it's questionable judgment and awareness. That whole area looks like a mix of Mad Max and the moon and makes me feel uncomfortably isolated just from looking at it on Google Maps.
When I Google Map directions from Albany, OR to Tucson, AZ, it gives me US-95 south through Tonopah (not over Silver Peak) as the shortest route. It gives me I-5 south I-10 east as the fastest route.
If I click Avoid Highways, it still gives US-95 south through Tonopah (not over Silver Peak) as the best route, but it also detours me around Reno, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. As an alternate it gives me US-395 south. The Avoid Highways option doesn't really avoid highways so much as it avoids big city traffic.
None of the Google directions give me the the route they took. In order for Google to show me the route they took, I have to add the GPS coordinates they ended up at as a stop between Albany and Tucson. Then it will give me an in and out route to a nearby road, but not to the actual location. It shows me a straight broken gray line pointing to the actual location. I then have to drag the route to make a through route out of it. But still I can not drag it to their actual location no matter what I do. '
Google Maps will simply not give directions to that location. You have to enter the GPS coordinates and then drag the route to get the route that they took.
This was not a GPS failure. It was two people who decided to take their RV off roading, and the result was predictable. This is also not an uncommon thing for people to do. Matt's Off Road Recovery YouTube Channel, has videos of them recovering RVs and other non capable vehicles from these type of situations all the time.
Delorme maps are based on the US Census Bureau TIGER files. They are NOT appropriate for back-country travel. YOU want the Forest Service "firemans" maps or as they called these days Ranger District maps. The BLM and Forest Service are doing combined agency maps these days...and I believe the BLM prepares the maps since they have the mapping expertise.
Go here...for back-country maps...the Forest Service has a cooperative agreement with them...and you can even download FREE Forest Service travel maps.
IF YOUR from BACK EAST....Nevada is really different. Particularly, rural Nevada. No people around, you need to know what your doing!!!
Rural counties are responsible for search and rescue. NO COUNTY Sheriff is going to mount a search and rescue and move his deputies out of normal responsibilities for what might be a wild goose chase. PLUS he/she doesn't have that many deputies.
In Washington state one year, a rural county had 10 MISSING Seattle area residents that were hikers or hunters one fall. The county ONLY had TEN deputies to cover over 5,000 square miles. What would you do as County Sheriff??
Cell Service?? Mostly none. Once you leave the interstates. Plan to deal with that fact when traveling in Nevada.
Your on your own on YOUR PUBLIC LANDS....that includes the right to die out there. Don't do it, but do be prepared to avoid it if at all possible.
And if your from back east.......talk to people about the risks your taking. Talk to everybody.....everybody was a "tenderfoot" at one time.
You want to live long enough to become a mountain man or woman.
When I Google Map directions from Albany, OR to Tucson, AZ, it gives me US-95 south through Tonopah (not over Silver Peak) as the shortest route. It gives me I-5 south I-10 east as the fastest route.
If I click Avoid Highways, it still gives US-95 south through Tonopah (not over Silver Peak) as the best route, but it also detours me around Reno, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. As an alternate it gives me US-395 south. The Avoid Highways option doesn't really avoid highways so much as it avoids big city traffic.
None of the Google directions give me the the route they took. In order for Google to show me the route they took, I have to add the GPS coordinates they ended up at as a stop between Albany and Tucson. Then it will give me an in and out route to a nearby road, but not to the actual location. It shows me a straight broken gray line pointing to the actual location. I then have to drag the route to make a through route out of it. But still I can not drag it to their actual location no matter what I do. '
Google Maps will simply not give directions to that location. You have to enter the GPS coordinates and then drag the route to get the route that they took.
This was not a GPS failure. It was two people who decided to take their RV off roading, and the result was predictable. This is also not an uncommon thing for people to do. Matt's Off Road Recovery YouTube Channel, has videos of them recovering RVs and other non capable vehicles from these type of situations all the time.
I did my search late last night (early evening out West). Google's algorithm will give you different routes depending on traffic situation, so you might get different routes every time you search.
And "avoid highways" does what it says - it will keep you off the Interstate and similar controlled access highways. I use the option all the time when driving because I prefer surface roads here to the often jammed freeways such as the Beltway, I-66 or I-95.
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