GPS Lost then GPS rescued the next day

When people turn on a GPS Device and turn off common sense, interesting things are going to happen. Jeramie Griffin, Megan Garrison, and their toddler are a very good example of driving while GPSing.

The family, using a portable GPS Mr. Griffin received as a Christmas present, tried a "shortcut" from Lebanon, Oregon across the Cascade Range to his family home in Maupin Oregon some four hours away(indicated in blue), and got stuck on a snowy local road for 24 hours before being rescued.(blue push pin)

Mr. Griffin had made the trip several times before. Because they were running late, the 40 mile "shortcut" the device promised was welcomed. But by Christmas morning, the young couple never arrived in Maupin.

To figure out which route he took, Mr. Griffin's nephew Mr. Wiens called a friend with the same GPS unit. After typing in the Maupin address, the navigation system suggested a route through the forest that would have cut 40 miles off their trip.

"It was the old Santiam Highway, up in the Cascades," said Wiens. "This is a summer road, not a winter road, and he didn't know that."

More than once, Wiens almost turned back. But when he saw footprints along Forest Road 46 shortly after 4 p.m., about 17 miles from U.S. 26, he plowed through.

"My nephew came walking up the road. He gave me the biggest hug. They were at wits' end. He broke down in my arms," Wiens said.

Expecting a 3-hour, 40-minute highway drive, the couple wasn't carrying food or water or warm clothes. Both adults tried to hike out for help and to get cell-phone service. The couple even recorded their final goodbyes on home video, he said.
quotes used from The Oregonian

View GPS route thru Willamette National Forest in a larger map

God Bless GPS

John Rhoads and Starry Bush-Rhoads got stuck on a mountain road, and wound up cold and hungry because of faith in a GPS enabled device. Three days later searchers, also using navigation units, tracked them down. The Rhoads were driving in their Toyota Sequoia four-wheel drive, heading home to Nevada after an Oregon vacation.

They had spent Christmas Eve in Redmond and set off to Bend and onto Oregon 31 then a straight shot to Reno, Nevada. They were both surprised when the unit's voice interrupted their drive near Silver Lake, Oregon. "We knew the route we wanted to take," said Bush-Rhoads, back home safely in Reno. "But after we were on 31 for about 25 miles, it said, 'Turn right on County Road 24.'" When they missed the turn, the GPS voice advised them to turn around. "We didn't know that it was a road that should have been closed. The only sign on the road, a little itty-bitty sign, said Not Winter Maintained." But the road appeared passable in both directions. The Rhoads took the road and wound up in a wildlife refuge wilderness area in Lake County. After the truck repeatedly got stuck in the snow, they spent first Friday night and then Saturday night in the truck. After rescuers pulled the 4x4 from the snow near Thompson Reservoir, Starry said it best "A GPS has its great pluses, but just like a dishwasher, it has its limitations."
View GPS Planed Route in a larger map

"Gee-oh" Lost

The Global Positioning System works by using 30 U.S. government satellites that pinpoint your location on the Earth with the use of a GPS enabled device.   GPS is a technology that most of us use daily.    Everyday news reports emerge about people using GPS technology with blind faith.  This week Mapspy will bring you some examples of blind GPS faith.