According to Glenn Scott, there are many reasons for concluding that as Jared's colony "traveled in the wilderness" (Ether 2:6) from the Valley Nimrod, they probably traveled east rather than west.
First, had they gone west, they would likely have encountered other peoples (from the great tower) known to have appeared in Europe in the latter part of the fourth millennium B.C.
Second, was the extreme length of their migration as indicated by the Brother of Jared's cry to the Lord, "thou . . . hath driven us forth, and for this many years we have been in the wilderness" (Ether 3:3).
Third, the customs of the Jaredites, as described by Ether, were remarkably like those of the Mongol tribes of east Asia.
Fourth, "the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land" (Ether 3:3). From the rotation of the earth, the prevailing westerlies blow around the earth from west to east.
Fifth, the extreme length of their sea voyage (344 days) could only have been across the Pacific which covers one-third of our world, and is many times wider than the Atlantic.
We have no way of knowing exactly how many years Jared's colony may have wandered on their long migration across the uncharted steppes and mountains of Asia. Ether 3:3 records the brother of Jared as saying, "O Lord, thou . . . has driven us forth, and for these many years we have been in the wilderness . . ." For an idea of the length of their journey, let us make a comparison. The famous Lewis and Clark expedition went a straight line distance of approximately 1,800 miles, but by following the winding rivers and mountain valleys from St. Louis to the Pacific coast, they actually travelled about 4,000 miles.
By the same ratio, the roughly 7,000-mile airline distance from Babel, north to Valley Nimrod then east to the Pacific coast of China, would represent over 15,000 rugged land miles. [Glenn A. Scott, Voices from the Dust, p. 27]