[DRTYFN]

It is very tragic, but was totally avoidable. Being an uber computer nerd, he should have scouted out his route better than using crappy Google, Yahoo or Mapquest.. AND he should have read the sign at the beginning of the little "road" that he turned onto that clearly warned them that it was a road that was NOT maintained during the winter. There's gas stations on I-5 that they could have asked for directions, too.
Another thing he did wrong - NEVER deviate off of the roads into the forest. He left the road and went into terrain that seriously hampered the rescue effort. I bet they flew over him a couple of times while he was in the trees or down one of the canyons.