Except it sounds like, according to the rescue teams, he mostly did everything right. The lodge on the Oregon coast knew to expect them and they didn't arrive. There were two maps in the car and only one mentioned that the road in question was seasonal only, so in a missed turnoff crunch, you're not necessarily going to cross check every map at your disposal.

I'll also have to mention the seasonal road thing. I don't know how it is in Texas, Michigan, or wherever the hell some of you live, but out West, rural seasonal backroads are not well defined and in a storm (or just after snowfall, since these roads aren't plowed) it's extraordinarily easy to get yourself lost between what is road and what isn't. I also don't see what his being from San Francisco has to do with anything. (although I guess I should just be happy no one here has made an Asian remark.)

He waited a week before leaving the camp, after burning tires to attract attention, and left markers to indicate where he was going. He did lack safety equipment, but really... when the lives of your wife and kids are at risk, your kids are going hungry, you and your wife are both starving , getting weaker, and getting frostbite to protect the kids, and other options have been exercised, this was an act of desperation to find help to save his family. It seems like it was more important to him for his family to survive - the ultimate act of selflessness.