3 out 4 Missing found by rescue workers

Yes, someone going for a drive, taking a wrong turn, and getting stuck is a pretty common way to end up in a disaster scenario. I'm driving down to Tucson for Christmas this year, and this story is a good reminder to make sure all my gear is in the car. You just never know ....

BTW, what's that part of the country like? I'm surprised that they had to burn their tires. There's no wood around there?
 
I think Grants Pass is covered by Feet of snow. I have only been thru there twice, but, all I saw were signs and pull-offs for "chaining" your tires in order to get through. When it's raining in Seattle, it's snowing at Grant's Pass.

He shouldda had a big chopper with him, anyways!

I fear the man has wandered off for help and frozen to death.
 
Food, water,warmclothing ,GPS, cell phone or other communications ??? Wandering there at that time of year especially with two small children is a very high risk thing. Burning tires creates lots of toxic compounds ,not the best for keeping warm. I would think a burning tire would make a decent signal fire with it's thick black smoke.
 
Hey Guys...

hope they had enough sense to let the air out first!!!

Ever put a tire Full of air in a fire???
Very cool!!

Better yet a tire filled with Propane or O/A !!!

Ka.... Blam!

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Lolipop man AKA popsical pete .......... has been nominated for a Darwin Award, ...................

Probably keeping warm in a bear.
 
mete said:
Burning tires creates lots of toxic compounds ,not the best for keeping warm. I would think a burning tire would make a decent signal fire with it's thick black smoke.
Click to expand...
That's what they used it for. And that's a recommended "by the book" signaling method, particularly in snowy environnement.
 
The TV reporterette said they burned tires to keep warm !!!
 
Glad the found they kids safe as they had no choice in the trip. Last year a family was stuck in the same area for a couple of weeks but they were in an RV. Turns out there were warrants for the parents after they were seen grabbing their 15 minutes in the media!

In all seriousness, it goes to show to show you what a simple yet faulty decision can cost someone.

It appears this family was totally unprepared for travel on anything but the Interstate. Sounds like there was no extra anything in the vehicle and they had no itinerary that anyone could use to track them. They are from the SF Bay Area and I was there visiting the first two weeks in November. The weather was very mild compared to the Seattle area where I live.

The father is a well known reviewer of electronic gadgets but it appears none of that will help you when you are lost and stuck in the snow at 20 degrees and no cell phone reception.

Could have all been avoided.

Hope they find the guy alive. Weather has been rough in Oregon this past week and he was equipped with jeans, tennis shoes and a jacket. Family says he has "outdoor experience"....
 
I'm keeping my fingers crossed but when I read that he headed out into the wet snow wearing jeans I couldn't help but think that that cut his chances right there. I don't see how he could stay warm at night with soaking wet clothes.

When I moved out to the Northwest last year I had to seriously adjust the way I used to pack for a hike or drive back east. Just a few weeks ago we had a snowshoer go missing for a few days about 8 miles from my house. Fortunately she survived but it just reminds you how easy it is to step off into true wilderness out here.
 
Tim-Gabz said:
Lolipop man AKA popsical pete .......... has been nominated for a Darwin Award, ...................

Probably keeping warm in a bear.
Click to expand...

I don't know if hacking on the guy is really a great idea. He made a series of mistakes, any one of which probably wouldn't have gotten him into the jam that he's in right now (if he's still alive). But combined together, they represent a life-threatening situation.

This is the very definition of how someone ends up in a survival situation. Rather than laugh at the guy, maybe we should learn from the scenario.

With all the focus on BOBs and PSKs and mini-PSKs around here, this group seems to understand the need to have highly portable gear, because if it's not portable and isn't convenient to carry, we won't have it with us when we need it.

Is there really anyone on this list who hasn't taken a series of stupid steps that came close to putting you into a survival situation, or put you into one outright? For my part, I can count at least a dozen times in my life that, after the fact, I told myself that had things gone just a little bit differently I'd be bear or coyote meat right now.

Would I go driving through snowy passes without appropriate winter gear and without letting someone else know where I'm going? I don't think so. But then, I know how things go when you're on a car trip and the wife & kids get an idea in their head and you're the only one saying 'no.' Sometimes the easiest thing to do is just to cave into the pressure.

Or maybe they got in a hurry, tried to beat some kind of a deadline, and so they took a shortcut that they shouldn't have.

Or maybe he really was flat-out ignorant, because no one ever bothered to explain to him how quickly things can go bad in that part of the country.

All I know is, I'm not laughing at him ....
 
Hope they find him alive.

Hell, I live in TN, and I don't leave home without a backpack complete with basic survival gear, rain gear, and a 9" blade (BK-9) I can use to make firewood. Just realized this week (first really cold weekend) that I need to add a set of polypropylene underwear and a fleece-lined hat (a toboggan if you live in the South) to my backpack.

I can't imagine living in Oregon without this minimal bit of gear.
 
Another tragic example of:

STAY WITH THE DAM CAR!

STAY PUT!!!!!

Still people will go be the hero and pay the price.

SKam
 
skammer said:
Another tragic example of:

STAY WITH THE DAM CAR!

STAY PUT!!!!!

Still people will go be the hero and pay the price.

SKam
Click to expand...

While I admit that the same thought ran through my mind when the wife and kids were found and the husband was missing, I can't even begin to imagine how strong the impluse would be to do something to save my family. Particularly the impluse to "fix the problem" you've created. Assuming that the husband was driving, the guilt he must have felt at getting his wife and kids into what probably seemed like certain death from freezing, must have been overwhelming.

I've been thinking about adding some provisions to my cars for awhile. This is going to be my motivation to actually do it.

Sean
 
I would guess they were following a little black or red line on the map.

Maps are wonderful, but they don't show the topography very well.
What looks like an approved route, may be snowed-in hood deep.

Once you leave a heavily travelled road like an interstate, and you are in unfamiliar territory, it's real easy to find yourself in the middle of nowhere.
by the time they realized it, they were stuck.

Goes to show it can happen.

Also goes to show having a little gear goes a long way.
Some pac boots, and set of insulated coveralls, rain gear, might mean the difference between life and death.

As far as staying with the car, if it's snowed in, the interior can get colder than outdoors, basically a refrigerator on wheels.

This is a case where, after runnig out of gas, and seeing no signs of rescue, besides my tires, I'd light a conifer on fire with my last bit of gasoline.

hey, a good sales pitch for Mag wheels!! firestarting tinder to last you a lifetime!
 
mete said:
The TV reporterette said they burned tires to keep warm !!!
Click to expand...

tire fires are very warm and last a long time, you wont be able to get close to it if you have a ton of brush and 2-3 maybe even 4 tires on it you would feel a summer breeze on your face from 20 feet away.
 
What I don't get are Californians. Washington and Oregon in the late fall to early spring are dangerous freakin' places if you are lost in any one of the five larger mountain ranges up here.

And what I don't get about Californians is that the same holds true for a great deal of the Sierra Nevadas and the higher plateaus of northeastern California.

How can anyone come up here in a car and not:

1) Predefine a route and let someone else know it and the ETA?
2) Not deviate from said route. (This family reportedly attempted the "shorter directional" unknown route into the impassable rather than turn back earlier on the known route they were "lost" upon.)
3) Not carry chains, blankets, and other self rescue gear. Even in the foothills or down in the valleys in any part of these two states, you can get into some seriously uncomfortable weather (freezing rain, sleet) that could easily see you staying the night or more in your car even if you aren't off the beaten path.
4) Not carry even minimal foul weather gear. If you have need to carry chains, rest assured you have need of some waterproof overalls or pants, some gloves, and at least carrying some proper footgear in the rig that might be the ticket, even for just chaining up.
5) Carry some water or a way to melt snow. Even getting stuck in traffic without something to drink sucks. With a gallon jug along, at least one can drink the water from it, and then, if necessary, agitate some snow in it to make melt water.

I know, I know, it won't happen to me. Every year up here, it happens to some hunter, snowmobiler, skier, or tourist.
 
Boats said:
And what I don't get about Californians is that the same holds true for a great deal of the Sierra Nevadas and the higher plateaus of northeastern California.
Click to expand...

What makes you think these things happen to just Californians?

Plenty of city and suburban dwellers around the country are clueless about how bad things can get once they get out of town. Plenty more know, but are too lazy to do something about it.

Our cellphone-ladened, AAA to the rescue, society has made a lot of people foolish and dependent.

Don't blame Californians, blame the whole damn culture.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top