Posted on 12/08/2006 3:50:26 PM PST by paulat
Lock was cut on gate barring road San Francisco man died close to feed, shelter in wilderness, officials say The Associated Press Updated: 3:25 p.m. PT Dec 8, 2006 CENTRAL POINT, Ore. - A San Francisco man who got stranded with his family in the snowy wilderness had taken a wrong turn in the car down a logging road that is normally blocked by a gate, but vandals had cut the lock, authorities said Friday.
James Kim, 35, was found dead of exposure in a mountain creek Wednesday, two days after his wife and the couple's two daughters were rescued from the car.
The gate had been locked for the winter Nov. 1, after the end of deer hunting season, so that "people don't mistakenly go down that road," said Patty Burel, spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Land Management.
Searchers looking for the family found the gate open, Burel said. An investigation is under way to find out who cut the lock.
The one-lane strip of pavement known as Bear Camp Road is often used in summer by Rogue River rafters and in winter by hunters, cross-country skiers and families cutting Christmas trees.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Please read the previous tags with THOUSANDS of responses, and you won't embarass yourself with that comment.
http://recco.com/startsida/index.asp
Of course...these guys had no idea that they were in danger....but these chips look interesting!
Getting lost and dying does not make you a hero. Stop embarrassing yourself by insulting people who tell you the truth.
We disagree. Thanks for the message.
They were in a Saab. I think a Subaru might have kept them going.
Just goes to show you that no matter how heroic and admirable one's conduct is there is always someone around to criticize it.
Making an effort, trying with all your heart, does.
What does this mean? I am asking a sincere question.
Your comment makes no sense at all. I am not a big techie like this guy was. Yet I have an Iridium sat phone with 500 minutes and solar recharger. I have an old CB radio "in case". These things take up little room above the spare tire. I have watched this guy review everything from $2,000 phones to high-end car GPS/audio hybrid systems. I was surprised to see how low tech his actual car setup was. Not a dig at him. He was a true hero. But very surprised indeed given his profession.
Be Prepared
I travel in areas where it is easy to get lost, I have done it several times, but I do know how to get unlost.
I now use GPS on my Palm or notebook and always have a shovel, blanket and water in my SUV. I use to carry USGS topo maps before GPS.
I understand what you are saying, but having been in the media...they do NOT get all that stuff for free....
First of all...even if they did get the box, there are subscriptions (which are expensive).
Second of all, they were trying to run two stores and work off his salary.
Third...they were extremely dumb to try to go to this lodge with two little kids in the first place. It was a place for adults, only. Especially in winter.
Do I still think he was a hero? Yes.
Thank you for the PINg....
just another piece of sadness "what could have been" thoughts to add to the mix...
The family remains in my thoughts and prayers..
Thanks, M0sby...still sad...I bet his spirit is still lingering with his family.
It IS so very sad...I am smart...I have an emergency kit in my car..with cans of food and matches and tarps and "stuff"....it is my "earthquake kit".
Flashlight..etc...
That being said...it is probably only enough for 3 days.....
I don't know what I would do after a week....especially with little kids.
I just don't know.
I would like to think that I wouldn't put myself in that position.
But I am sure that they didn't think so either.
I have a cell...my earthquake kit...my extra coat etc...all in the car at all times...
I would feel like I was prepared...but for a WEEK?
or NINE DAYS???
I wonder if I would stay with the car..
Just being honest...
And I too think that he did everything that he THOUGHT was right for the position that he was in.
He did his best..and no one can say he didn't TRY with everything in him.
Sorry, I cannot agree with this statement. By this definition any tin horn terrorists who "thinks" they are doing the right thing is a hero? Nope.
Herosim is the act of selflessly sacrificing your own interests and life, if necessary, when it may not otherwise be required, for the true good and betterment of others.
Kim tried valiently to save his family...the actions he took during those days to keep them alive will undoubtedly be remembered as heroic by his family...they were privy to them, we were not. He ultimately tried to walk out to get help and that can be considered heroic as well, because he could have stayed with them.
In the end, what happened there was more tragic than anything else...but his wife and daughters survived and probably due to his oversite of the conditions while he was there with them, and his instructions to them when he left.
Living in this intermountain country for many years I can say that it was a fatal mistake to keep driving on unknown mountain roads with a wife and two young daughters when the weather turned bad, particularly when a winter strom was forecast to come into the area. It was a fatal mistake not to be dressed better for the conditions he faced. It was a fatal mistake to leave the road when he tried to walk out and head down that unknown drainage to try and get out. In this country the draingages can be steep and very inhospitalble in winter.
In spite of these mistakes, Kim also has the presence of mind and the good judegment to make decisions with what provisions and tools he had that saved his wife and daughters. That is what he should be remembered for, and I can just abnout bet that that is what his family will remember him for.
The only CERTAIN way you can get out of trouble in the wild is to be able to be CERTAIN to rely on your own resources and skills to do it.
Overpreparation will make you tired and poorer by virtue of the added expense. But underpreparation puts you at risk and may get you or your loved ones injured or killed. Prepare by packing and by learning. Learn by studying theory and following the experiences of others-- before you go yourself.
Going outside your safety envelope puts you and others (SRT) in danger. Most accidents in the wilderness areas I travel are accidents in judgement, lack of skills, and lack of preparation-- all easily preventable. Many times, judgement errors are due to overconfidence.
Mr. Kim was by all accounts intelligent and what contemporary society considers both well educated and well prepared. Since Mr. Kim is now deceased, and posts of many to CNET and other places that he made mistakes are censored or belittled, I believe that the larger problem is therefore somewhere within contemporary society. What is wrong?
I believe the problem is that our schools do not teach students rudimentary critical thinking necessary for good judgement, along with essential survival skills. Instead, students are told they can learn in a constructivist manner from each other and from direct experience, and conducting themselves in such manner, are showered with praise to raise their self-esteem.
Add to this idiot TV shows, idiot movies and idiot newsmedia which oversimplify situations for entertainment value to the gullible (who are left believing that they are now sufficiently informed to do the stunts that are portrayed in those shows).
It is this self-esteem which is a major killer in the wilderness. People don't like to be told they don't know enough, they don't have enough experience, they aren't prepared enough. They are not used to hearing that. But they go into the wilderness anyway, and often, as a result, they are injured or they die before someone can rescue them from the dangerous consequences of their own poor judgement.
(I recommend reading back issues of "Accidents in North American Mountaineering" for persons seriously interested in learning from the mistakes of others.)
One more thing-- knowledge, skills, and strategy are more important than any equipment, because sometimes circumstances beyond your control strip you of your provisions, but you still have to survive.
Like Santayana, I think it is better to learn from history than to worry about whether someone is a hero or not, lest so much time is spent showering a deceased wilderness victim with more praise but ignoring the very valid (and more important) lesson of his experience.
"In spite of these mistakes, Kim also has the presence of mind and the good judegment to make decisions with what provisions and tools he had that saved his wife and daughters. That is what he should be remembered for, and I can just abnout bet that that is what his family will remember him for."
Well said.
I live in that area and go mountain biking on Bear Camp rooad a lot, and we're all extremely frustrated that the BLM and Forest Service are shutting down the vast majority of the logging roads in that area with their gates.
I would never cut locks myself, being law-minded, but after seeing road after road after road be shut down for spotted owls, bears, newts, lynx and many other reasons, all of which have the effect of shutting down the vast majority of the national forests to hikers, campers, berry pickers and mountain bikers, I totally understand the reasoning of people who DO cut locks.
It's sickening, watching lands open to locals for generations be shut down, road after road after road.
Ed
Not only does the road narrow down to a small gravel lane, it often times end up above sheer cliff faces hundreds of feet high, with no discernable shoulder!
I love driving on that road, but even in the summertime it gives me a few white-knuckled experiences!
Ed
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.