I suspect that he was aiming to carry her to the dense woods off to the West (about another half-mile from where she was found), but then realized that it would take a lot of effort so just settled for that patch of trees. If you've never had to carry a limp person before, it's a lot more tiring than you'd expect.
The denser woods were to the east. The west was just wider floodplain for the creek and Highway 191, and it would be more apparent the closer west he got to Highway 191