Keep an eye out missing couple 395 Dyer area

And this is what the area looks like on the Benchmark Atlas for Nevada.... (pages 72 and 73)

(click to enlarge)

NevadaStrandedRVarea428KB.jpg

(I believe they were a bit east of the last n in 'Argentite Canyon'.)
 
I think its because gps works, most of the time. I use it to find businesses new to me or parts of town I'm not familiar with. Its great with turn by turn directions. I'd never depend on it offroad but I can see how people get comfortable with it. The part I don't understand is why when it sends you down a dirt road (assuming you meant to stay on paved roads) people don't stop and reconsider. Of course most people don't have so many papers maps they overflow onto the floor.
 
And here's what the USGS 24K topo map (2018 version) shows for the location where the RV was found.... This is a screen capture from the Avenza Maps app on my iPad mini4...


(click to enlarge)

BarkerRVonUSGS24Ktopo424KB.jpg
 
Even though I've not once in my life relied upon only digital maps while afield, I have on several occasions made "blind faith" decisions (aka being in denial, etc). concerning continuing down roads which have deteriorated into bad roads, thence to trails, all clearly indicative of "not a through route" status, believing instead that the MVUM, DeLorme, Benchmark, or USGS map showing no gates or other obvious closures ahead can't be wrong. While knowing all along the maps sure as heck CAN be wrong. Did it in the Blue Ridge in the big truck and had to do a 19 point turn on a shelf road to backtrack rather than back up 2 miles including down a steep rutted muddy segment of said shelf road. And a couple of years later, also in the Blue Ridge, got so far into one that I had to drop the camper trailer, cut a path through the brush to get the truck around to the other side of it, and turn the camper around 180 degrees with a come-along, straps, firewood for chocks, etc. Fortunately the Missus wasn't on board for either fiasco. But she was there for the Missouri Breaks debacle of a very similar nature (proceeding headlong into a clearly deteriorating two-track trail) in 2020, and I'm still hearing about that one. As I should have. I made a bad decision. Fortunately, nothing bad came of it.

Foy
 
This sad story has me actively thinking to equip my Mother and her husband with an InReach for their Class B.. She's tech savvy enough to use it, likely even in a befuddled state of mind.

I camped once with some friends not too far from where both vehicles were found. We're all aghast at where they were in those vehicles. The descent down into Silver Peak is NOT a road that I'd voluntarily take a Class C down. Not even on a 4 decimal place bet.
 
I'm still playing with maps.

The intent of this one is to have a satellite view of the RV and car locations and allow you to zoom and pan to get a better feel for the roads in the area.

In the My Maps portion of Google Maps, I plotted the positions and then changed permissions to allow anyone with the link below to view it.

I can't quite figure out how to present the map exactly as I'd like, so I have to provide some directions.

1. After you click on the link, click on on the satellite view icon in the lower left corner to switch from map view to satellite view.

2. To get that big map legend out of the way, click on the three vertical dots in the red bar at the top of the page and then on 'Collapse map legend'.

3. Zoom and pan to look around. There's a scale line at the bottom of the page to help estimate distances.

Barker GPS positions on Google Maps

Note: There's a road between the two positions which looks like a major road. I believe that's misleading as Google Maps overlays the satellite photo. If you zoom in, you'll see that the semi-transparent enhancement line covers trees and bushes on that road but not on the other roads nearby.
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Just to the SW of "Coyote Summit" (btwn Red Mtn and Mineral Ridge) on the real main road thru the area, which they must have been on and turned off of, is where it is really steep. So steep that it surprised me that it is a graded County Road. They must grade it going downhill as I doubt it's possible to grade it going uphill.
 
ntsqd's post made me realize how poorly a 2D map shows what's there (I had looked at Coyote Summit on Caltopo and on Google Maps in Terrain View)

And then I wondered how the area would look on Google Earth.

So here are the RV and car positions on Google Earth. After the map loads, click on the minus sign at the bottom of the page to get the positions in view. Then click on the 3D bubble at lower right.

After viewing it a bit, click on the map to stop the rotation and look around using zoom and pan. It's also possible to 'grab' the map to move it. There are a few place names to help orient yourself.

Barker GPS positions on Google Earth

What amazing views.
 
I found a post on a Death Valley forum I occasionally look at -

"Allegedly, their 32' motorhome, which was towing a car on a dolly, made it to those coordinates. I and others are skeptical and looking for some proof."
I expect a great deal of speculation on line about this incident.
 
I do too, by mostly armchair quarterbacks. After seeing a Prius at The Geologist's Cabin I have no doubts about anyone getting anywhere in anything.
 
1st thing I seem to always recall in instances where there is a stranding is stay with the vehicle.

Okay now they have a 2nd vehicle so I get it but why, if you know there are muddy areas and you've been stranded once, would you not take enough food and water with you in case you got stranded again, especially with health issues.

Sad story :(
 
Having given this quite a bit of thought and having recently camped at Willow Creek and hiked down canyon quite a ways towards where the young man died a year ago in Death Valley, I can only say that some people just do not appreciate how hostile to human life and safety the arid west is.

The Paiute peoples from the area had a deep and vast skill set that helped them survive in that country. Those skills accumulated from a solid hunter gatherer tradition and living very close to the environment. A skill set which cannot be replicated by a quick stop at Big-5 or REI.

The average modern city dwelling tourist is woefully ill equipped to survive without a great deal of water, food, protection from the elements and possibly medicines. A wrong turn, an immobile vehicle, a broken leg and you are instantly catapulted from curious explorer into a very high risk survival situation. Not what most people really think about or prepare for.

It is sad these events keep happening, but it is a tough, uncaring environment in much of the US west of the 100th meridian. Our land management agencies, law enforcement and search and rescue volunteers try hard to educate people, but some will always miss, or forget, the information.

The west is beautiful and often exhilarating, but be careful and thoughtful out there.
 
This morning I blundered onto an online OnX Offroad map and description of Coyote Road. And that led to finding a trail-difficulty rating for the road the Barkers apparently were on. But I'm getting ahead of myself.....

First, look at the Coyote Road entry....

On X Offroad map of Coyote Road

You'll see a basic description and a trail difficulty rating of "1- Easy" for this 30-mile road to the town of Silver Peak. A map should come into view in the black area at the bottom of the page and start rotating.

The blue line that comes into view is the one we're interested in. Near its intersection with Coyote Road, we see this is the road through Argentite Canyon. The submitter of this route calls it McAfee Road.

Click on that blue line to see its description and trail-difficulty rating of "4 - Easy" (for dirt bikes, ATVs, high-clearance 4X4, and SUV vehicles) for it's 53-mile length, a 5.5-hour drive.

If you zoom in a few times and follow McAfee Road from Coyote Road, you'll see it winds through hills and emerges into lighter-colored area with a few side roads to the left. I believe the RV was found in that area... about a quarter mile up that third side road. (Sorry about that description-- I can't find a way to put a pin there.)

So I'm guessing what happened is the Barkers had their GPS (or app) set for a destination of Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas (which Travis said was their next overnight destination). And in the settings of the GPS/app, they had chosen 'shortest distance' as route-calculation method. If the destination had been the town of Silver Peak or a more easterly destination, the GPS would have selected the Coyote Road to Silver Peak.... not because it's faster, but because that would have been the shortest route to that destination.

But they selected a destination well to the south so that means the GPS would try to 'cut the corner'. Instead of routing straight east through Silver Peak to connect with 95 above Goldfield to turn south, it would look for south-trending roads along the way to cut the corner.... like McAfee Road (or portions of it).... to find the shortest distance. This is of course speculation and is based on how my Garmin GPS works.

Another possible explanation would be a bad segment in the routing database used to calculate the route. In such a case, the GPS wouldn't route across the Coyote Road because it didn't calculate as going through.
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Old Crow, thanks for the explanation on how the GPS navigation works. I do not leave home with one.

All this speculation, I think, is based on the idea they went to Fish Lake Valley Hot Springs. Is there any confirmation of that? Otherwise, why did they turn off of highway 95? How/why did they get on the west side of the Silver Peak Range?
 
I travel alone so I plot all possible routes (on real paper - not just a tiny screen) and consider all possible problems before I leave home (well, there was that flat tire time - but now I know how to change a tire) If I am going to one of those huge Nevada valleys I carry a substantial backpack to carry water and other needs in case I have to walk. The flat tire time I aborted a section of my trip and hooked up with another couple on the way back to pavement because I no longer had a spare.

I had just returned to my truck at the Pine Creek trailhead (near Bishop) once when a young man with a car full of people came and asked me why the road above the tungsten mine was closed. Some website had suggested he could drive to Gem Lake. I laughed. Or as someone mentioned a Prius - I had to work pretty hard to talk a woman out of trying to drive her rental car to Leavitt Lake a couple of years ago. Oh yeah - same place, guy with his son in a BMW SUV (clearance not much better than the Prius) I said they would not make it past the first creek crossing and he began to yell at me "the guidebook said .....". So I suggested he call for a tow truck now since it could take three days for one to be available, said he'd better have a wallet full of cash and walked away.

What is tragic about this particular story is that it was a simple button on the GPS that was not activated but I still cannot fathom driving anything anywhere without some knowledge beyond an electronic device telling me to go that way.
 
Very smart advice, teledork.





"... there was that flat tire time - but now I know how to change a tire) If I am going to one of those huge Nevada valleys I carry a substantial backpack to carry water and other needs in case I have to walk. The flat tire time I aborted a section of my trip and hooked up with another couple on the way back to pavement because I no longer had a spare. "



This is something we were just discussing at our house. If older or physically limited RV folks are unable to change a tire, then a simple flat can disable their vehicle. Therefore it would seem risky for them to visit areas without AAA services and cell coverage.

These big truck tires are quite heavy and the lug nuts can be overtightened by tire shops. I carry a breaker bar, extension and the right size socket. I have checked the tightness of the lug nuts at home on the driveway.

There was that time for us when we had to return to Bishop to get a replacement spare before returning to those huge DV valleys. Driving around without a spare would be crazy IMHO.
 
There will come a time when I'll limit my travels precisely because of physical limitations. Will I be able to curb my urge to "see what is down that road" though?

My shop uses a torque wrench for tightening lugs. Something they should all do.
 
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