Posted on 12/26/2016 7:44:34 PM PST by BenLurkin
After walking 26 miles in the snow along a desolate stretch of the Grand Canyon over 36 hours, a Las Vegas woman is now safe and recovering from exposure at a Utah hospital.
Karen Klein was enjoying a holiday vacation with her husband and 10-year-old son when their car got stuck in the mud near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona late last week.
Klein said she'd decided to be the one to go get help because her husband had recently been in an accident.
Outdoorsy and athletic, she thought she could brave the elements herself.
"I said, 'I'll go, I'll just walk up to the main road. I'm a runner,'" Klein recounted Monday.
Unaware that the area is closed to vehicle traffic during the winter, Klein decided to walk to the nearest main road in hopes of flagging down a passing car.
Hours later, she found herself alone in the dark.
...
At last, Klein came across an uninhabited residence for park rangers and broke the glass with her elbow to get in. She didn't know it at the time, but when she hadn't returned to the car, her husband and son walked in the opposite direction until they got cell service and were able to call for help. A search and rescue team discovered Klein in the residence she had broken into.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
I know Karen Klein personally - she is a successful fashion designer.
Cannot say it any other way. She is heroic.
Thank heavens she and her family are all safe!
So we didn't go there and returned home safely.
True story. The winter is a great time to see the canyon however. No crowds.
I have some severe doubts about their “holiday”. When the North Rim closes during the first week or so of October there are warning signs everywhere. Roads are blocked off and marked with signs.
I know from personal experience from travel there at the end of Sept. a few years ago. We stayed a day and left with the snowstorm following us down and out.
Note to self: Don’t vacation on north rim of Grand Canyon in December without a Jeep, a satellite phone, a winch, and a very athletic woman.
They were going to the North Rim come hell or high water.
They found hell.
The woman was a triathlete and the family was along for the ride.
Arrogance and Stupidity can go hand in hand. Roads closed so go ahead and take forest service roads to reach that ultimate destination.
They got lucky. It was pure arrogance.
Larry, there are a few more notes I would put in that jeep.
I have history of the Plateau in Winter and it isn’t always good.
That family was stupid given all the tech today and should be charged every man-hour to get them out.
Obey posted signs, turn off the GPS and turn on your brain when in the mountains or high desert and you will live longer.
A few years ago there was a guy from SF who tried to take an unplowed gravel road from I-5 to the coast in Oregon. He got stuck in the snow after he drove around a sign that said roads not plowed beyond this point. He died and damn near got his wife and kid killed too.
He did everything wrong getting there and after he got there but the morons in the bay area treated him like a hero too.
He defined stupid to a T and damn near got his wife and kid killed as well.
We live high in the mountains off of a forest service road several miles from the pavement and plowed roads in the winter. It has been freezing every night for weeks and we have had 4 snow storms in the last month.
I have a grader a front end loader and a High wheel D6 that I use to keep the roads open when we want to or have to get out of here. We drive 4X4 vehicles with snow tires and have chains for all wheels.
Our home can be off the grid at the flip of a switch and everything still works as it did when we had commercial power. We heat with two large wood stoves and use the propane central heating system as a backup. We are safe and comfortable because we are knowledgeable and prepared for the snow and cold in the winters here.
That said, I would no more go wandering around Chicago, Oakland, or south central LA without some local knowledge with me and an armored vehicle. I have no business in any of these places alone with my family being stupid/ignorant of the local threats and risks. I damn well would not drive around a sign that says don't go here.
I'm glad this lady and her family lived but she was stupid to put herself and her family in that situation to begin with.
She is not a hero, she is a very lucky stupid moron.
I think you nailed it.
I think a nice forest rock or stick to break a window would be a better choice than an elbow too.
OK, She saved her ass after getting it wrapped up in 30 hours of snow.
Go to North Dakota, get your ass stuck in the snow, hike out for thirty miles, and become a hero.
My ass.
People get lost in the high desert in my area every year. The ones who get into the worst situations are the ones who leave their stuck or out of fuel vehicle, or the ones who get turned around/lost on a hike and then just keep going even though they don’t know where they’re heading. None of the people have a clue about how to survive. Almost without exception, if they stay put, just stay with their vehicle, or quit going deeper into trouble, search and rescue finds them fairly quickly, alive.
Ben, the stupid in the nation is starting to burn.
I don’t care if this woman is Bruce Jenner. Charge them for every dime including the window.
Down at the Buckskin Bar in Fredonia AZ the talk was about the same as reported here.
Fredonia AZ bump.
Not very bright though.
They had to work hard to get in that predicament.
Stay with the vehicle and build a fire. Period.
Good post ‘35. You are well set up to. The Mountains, (especially in winter), can jump up and bite so fast that it can catch the uninformed/unwary/not paying attention or flat out idiots quickly. At least the darn Bears aren’t around right now up here to bother me!
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