For those who do not know the story of the Kim family, here is a link to the story.
They found Mr. Kim's body today. All day I have been wondering just where they were, so when I got home I jumped on Google Earth(which is about the best download...ever.) and got out my trusty Oregon Recreational Atlas and found the area they got lost. Keep in mind they were lost for about a week.
They were on a Forest Service road approximately 12 miles from a town, Galice. Now, I'm not too familiar with that area, but from GE it looks like a small village. There is a resort there. At least there might have been someone around. I looked around some more, and they were 5 miles from a lodge. Granted, the terrain is mountainous, but they were far from being in the middle of nowhere. They found Mr. Kim's body a mile or so from that lodge.
Reports are speculating they might have been using a navigational system in the car that told them to go on Forest Road 23. Being from San Fransico, they were unfamiliar with the area.
Here are where my questions begin.
1. There is a sign at the bottom of Rd. 23 that says it is not advisable to drive on in the winter, as it is unplowed. Why did they continue on?
2. When they became stuck, why did they simply stop? Why not back up? Even if you have to dig the snow out to get out, why not?
3. Why did Mr. Kim go the opposite way they came in, not back down Rd. 23? It was at most 10-12 miles from Galice. Instead, he went down an extremely steep ravine.
I think the point at which they decided to go on, past the sign telling of the potential difficulties of driving on that road, is the point at which this tragedy could've been avoided.
I cannot understand the thinking in this situation. They had very little supplies, and were unfamiliar with survival techniques (one of the first things they say is STAY PUT! A person can live around 2 weeks on water alone, and moving makes it exponentially harder to find you.), and seemingly making poor decisions (Mr. Kim's route after leaving the car).
Someone on the radio said there are two types of people today. There are those people who depend on themselves alone. They are the rugged people who settled and built this country. They compose(he hypothesized) about 10% of the population. Then there is the other 90% of people. They are dependant people. Food is at the store for them. They do not equip themselves to live on thier own. While I sypathize with the family, I think the evidence points to the Kims being in the 90% group.
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5 comments:
You are right that this is a terrible tragedy, Bob! The area where it happened is one we know; Tom, Ben, and Joe have hiked there, and we've all driven those rugged, rocky roads. The terrain IS really rugged, with ravines, boulders, and thickets plus trees. Very slow going, and that's without snow!
It is more 'in the middle of nowhere' than you might think, and the lodge, if it's the one I'm thinking of, Paradise Lodge, is TINY and closes after the summer season. There aren't people all around. You have to fly into the lodge, or hike in. When you ask the locals at Wolf Creek (east) where Galice is, they say, 'Way the h*ll out there!', and they aren't kidding!
In any case, YES, they should have turned around at the sign warning about the road not being plowed.
Hindsight is 20/20 to use a warn out cliche. The man was doing what he thought was best for his family - he tried. A sad Christmas for the survivors.
You know, a few years back some people got stuck up there, just as this family did, they stayed with the car as they had been taught, and all of 'em died.
God does what He does. We aren't as smart as we think, huh.
Thanks for the links - especially Google Earth! :-D
But I can't understand his trying. He apparently had no idea where he was and went off in the opposite direction they came, down a steep ravine. Why? Why not just walk down the road they came in on?
As for "some people" who got stuck, I could only find two stories. One was that family who's motor home got "stuck" last winter. Again, they didn't tell anyone where they were going and made some poor choices. There was another man in 1994 who, for unknown reasons, went up into the woods and got stuck. He was only a little way ("around the corner" according to the new story) from a paved road he could have escaped on. Instead, he sat in his truck and starved to death.
All I am saying is that this tragedy should not have happened. I hurt for his family as well, but the county sheriff should not be on T.V. saying, "Mr. Kim did absolutely nothing wrong." People will continue to get into trouble there and many other "way out" places if every time it happens people fail to learn from the tragedy, as seems to be the case here.
Tom has a buddy at work who river rafts every year both personally and professionally all over the west, including the section of the Rogue we are discussing here. He told Tom about the people who I mentioned who perished up there, and I believe he said it was four years ago, but communication being what it can be, it very well may be some of the people your news search uncovered. They stayed, they died.
You have a really good point, Bob, about people learning from incidents like this. Excellent point, in fact. And I totally agree. Senseless harm and death can be avoided with a little mindfulness, you know, paying attention to the mishaps of others. People can be so oblivious!
Tom and I haven't studied the story as in-depthly as you, but we do wonder, and maybe you have some thoughts on this, do you suppose Mr. Kim was attempting to follow the river, hoping to locate people, or maybe hoping that the rescue people would see him better? I mean, he and his family had heard helicopters flying nearby without themselves being spotted, and they'd had a fire, too. Maybe he was trying to be seen? That would explain his clothes lying all around, and the clues he seemed to be leaving.
We, too, wonder why he didn't head back for Galice. Maybe he was all turned around, I dunno. Maybe he didn't realize what a remote area he was in, assuming that SURELY there were people nearby.
It's also curious that Yahoo and Mapquest and other directional tools give that road as an option for cutting over to the coast without telling what a horrid road it is, not to mention unpassable during certain conditions. I have to repeat that it is a NASTY road. Windy, narrow, steep in places, large holes and rocks, gravelled, with no guard rails to protect against sheer cliffs. In some places good chunks of the road have crumbled down said cliffs, making the navigation harrowing. Everyone else takes, what is it, 199?, which goes across northern Calif., through the redwoods. Suppose anyone will correct THAT blunder - the miscommunication of the usefulness of that road?
But yes, you are right, we should all learn from this. That way Mr. Kim will not have died in vain.
Enjoying your Christmas break? Hope so!
There is a show on Discovery channel about "survival." The host is droped somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and is given a certain time limit to get to safety. He's always telling the audience that you should travel down a river to find help. This is only a good idea if you have absolutely no idea where you are. The first rule of survival, especially in cold conditions is STAY DRY! Wetness kills faster than starvation, or even lack of water. Perhaps Mr. Kim was thinking about this when he chose his route. I have also since learned they had turned off the main road twice, so maybe he figured he wouldn't remember which way they came.
Now unfortunatly there are some more people lost. In this situation I can't figure out how experienced climbers thought it would be a good idea to climb Mt. Hood in nasty weather.
And, Christmas break? I don't get one. Well, we do have Christams day off I guess. So I am not enjoying a vacation. ;-)
What? You don't get a break from your studies? That's unusual.
And yeah, we love that show, Man vs. Wild. The kids have got me watching it now. That guy know MORE THINGS!! Some gross - but very life sustaining.
Well, enjoy your Christmas Day, then. At least it's a three day weekend - unless you work Sat.'s and Sun.'s.
Say Hey to Karen!
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