On Saturday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m., five well-dressed and polite young Asian folk walked into the Co-op. Dampened by the rain, they obviously had a story to tell, but they were distant and reserved.

They asked me to call the State Patrol because their rented vehicle needed to be towed.

After a long conversation, their thoughts quite distant and themselves a little distracted, I worked out that they had walked from Shi-Shi Beach, their car was behind a locked gate and they had walked to the Co-op.

My math went wild! 16 miles to Neah Bay, another seven to Shi-Shi, another two to the beach. Ay! No wonder they were distracted. Only six hours of walking!

I looked at their shoes … no mud!

This story was looking confusing!

I phoned around to Gary’s Towing, Cain’s Towing, West End Motor’s Towing and Sol Duc Towing but found no help.

I started thinking, “Behind a locked gate, at Shi-Shi? It didn’t add up.”

So I called the non-emergency Sheriff’s number.

Apologizing for my non-urgent call, I started to explain to the operator that I couldn’t find a tow truck to help my five new Asian friends. The operator quickly asked me to relax, “You have done the right thing,” she said. “Where are they now?”

“Here at the Co-op,” I replied.

“They are missing persons, you have done the right thing, we are pleased to know of their whereabouts. Are they injured?”

“No,” I replied.

This done, we waited for Deputy Ron Cameron.

Their story grew from here …

The five young people are from China, four of them went to school together in Wuhan in Hubei Province. They all go to universities here in the states: UW, UCI, Northwestern and University of Missouri. The other young man they met here is from Liaoning Province, a place called Dalian. They currently live in Seattle, California and Chicago.

Renting an SUV in Seattle with a GPS, for safety, they headed for Shi-Shi but the GPS told them to turn off Hoko-Ozette Road and then take Campbell Properties Road, and so they did.

This is when they met the mud. The mud stopped the journey. They could not get the vehicle out.

This was Friday while the gate was open. They spent the night in the car, there was no phone service.

So at 8 a.m. on Saturday, they started to walk and arrived at the Co-op in Clallam Bay at 2 p.m., dampened by the rain and with a story to tell.

They each spent an hour and a half on our Wi-fi contacting friends and family, trying to contact the rental company. There was lots of excited chatter.

Ron, our deputy, arrived and the story started again.

The GPS had led them onto this logging road, the mud had enveloped the wheels and the phone did not work!

They, as I, are concerned as to the value of GPS in rural areas. This is not the first story I haveheard of folk getting lost in the terrain not suited to their needs of vehicles.

Let’s do something about it!

A happy ending for Bowei, Yuele, Yi Yi, Ben and Luyao.