By JEFF BARNARD , Associated Press

December 28, 2009

webmaster comments in bold red

There are times in the outdoor world where the guidance is "trust your instruments".  If you're flying without a horizon and your body is telling you that up is down, trust your instruments.  When you're SCUBA diving 80 feet down and your body is telling you to go deeper when you  surface,  trust your instruments. Navigation is different. GPS is not perfect.  It doesn't analyze terrain or observe current weather or evaluate your physical condition or do any of the things that go into intelligent route selection.  It simply picks the shortest route between two points.  If you blindly follow it without evaluating other factors, you can find yourself in trouble real quick.  These stories show up in the news on a fairly regular basis. This one had a happy ending.  The people were prepared for winter conditions.  They stayed put, kept cool and got lucky.  Even though we're in the 21st century and technology abounds, there are still times and places where you can find yourself in extreme danger miles from anywhere or anyone. 

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - A Nevada couple letting their SUV's navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon got stuck in snow for three days when the GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road.

On Sunday, atmospheric conditions apparently changed enough for their GPS-enabled cell phone to get a weak signal and relay coordinates to a dispatcher, Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said. 

"GPS almost did 'em in and GPS saved 'em," Evinger said. "It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route." 

Evinger said a Lake County deputy found the couple in the Winema-Fremont National Forest outside the small town of Silver Lake on Sunday afternoon and pulled their four-wheel-drive Toyota Sequoia out of the snow with a winch. 

John Rhoads, 65, and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads, 67, made it home safely to Reno, Nev., Evinger said. 

The couple was well-equipped for winter travel, carrying food, water and warm clothes, the sheriff said. "Their statement was, being prepared saved their life," he said. 

The couple had been in Portland and followed their GPS as it directed them south on U.S. hiighway 97 to Oregon Highway 31, which goes through Silver Lake and Lakeview before connecting with U.S. Highway 395 to Reno, Evinger said. 

In the town of Silver Lake, the unit told them to turn right on Forest Service Road 28, and they followed that and some spur roads nearly 35 miles before getting stuck in about 1 1/2 feet of snow near Thompson Reservoir, the sheriff said. 

"For some reason they finally got a weak signal after 2 1/2 days," Evinger said. "They called in. They alternated between two different cell phone numbers."