[bray]

Typical Katrina way of looking at life. Being a native Oregonian I know that any time I am in the wilderness I am on my own and in his case his family depended on him.

Rather than blaming the SAR who risked their lives to save this family how bout looking at his main mistakes. He should have never left the freeway in a major winter storm. He may not have been able to cross hwy 42 in that storm which dropped 6' of snow in the Cascades so likely 1-3 feet in the Coast Range.

When he was stuck he should have stayed with the car and used it as a shelter. He could have built a lean-to shelter and most of all should have built a fire. With a fire he could have easily survived a week with any food at all.

Rather he made the fateful mistake of trying to walk out of a mountain range that is next to impossible to cross. If you do walk out always walk downhill and follow the river to safety. He walked a 16 mile circle on the logging roads.

When you are in the wilderness you better know some simple survival skills or you may not make it.

But none of that matters in a post Katrina world, its the gummit's fault.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[woodbutcher]

When he was stuck he should have stayed with the car and used it as a shelter. He could have built a lean-to shelter and most of all should have built a fire. With a fire he could have easily survived a week with any food at all.

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Hooray!!!

Captain Obious to the rescue!

Dear Captain:

You missed a couple of points, but no matter. You have as ususal solved the problem.

First, no one has bad mouthed the men on the ground. Or in the choppers.

The problem was with the 911 operator who totally ignored the only really valid clue, unless there were others that were not reported.

One could also criticize the chain of command for allowing a person of such limited judgement to be at a critical station.

As for following logging trails in a circle, again you are uninformed. I read that reports from the people that tracked him were to the effect that he had traversed terain so steep and so rough that they had to use climbing gear to traverse some of the same ground safely.

The bottom line still is that if the woman, whose name escapes me at the moment, had done her job or if the guy who saw the tracks had been more agressive and ranted until someone followed the tire tracks, the outcome would have been different.

[TruthWillWin]

He may not have been able to cross hwy 42 in that storm which dropped 6' of snow in the Cascades so likely 1-3 feet in the Coast Range.

He was going to Gold Beach and from Portland or Roseburg you have to leave the freeway. 42 would have been the best way to get there from Roseburg. Very rare for one to find snow on 42 and very common for it to snow on the route he attempted.