I wonder, along with her contention that she was overwhelmed with her responsibilities, that she was also in a state of denial as to the severity of the situation, not wanting to really believe that these people were lost and stuck in her county. Given the history that people have died on that road and that as recently as nine months ago a family was trapped there for two weeks in a motorhome, it should have occurred to someone that it should be the first place to explore.
It's plain that Mr. Kim was not stupid, nor were the climbers on Mt. Hood, but even the most intelligent people sometimes exercise poor judgment - in the wilderness or on the mountain (beautiful, majestic, and deadly), it can cost you your life.
Onehipad you said it well. There is a lot of speculation around this. The facts are clear Sara R. really hurt the chances of success for this effort. Incompetent at best, criminally negligent at worst.
Poseiden - if she acted on Friday and didn't screw up like she did it is far more likely that they would have found James late Saturday or early Sunday and that would have certainly been within time to save him. SAR never even had that opportunity for the absolutely stupid decisions she made.