Oregon Professor Missing During Day Hike

A cell phone takes up little space and weighs next to nothing. Carry it and it may not work ... or it might save your life. Cheap insurance.

If you're lost, you don't know for sure that you're out of cell phone range. :)
 
Esav Benyamin said:
A cell phone takes up little space and weighs next to nothing. Carry it and it may not work ... or it might save your life. Cheap insurance.

If you're lost, you don't know for sure that you're out of cell phone range. :)
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Don't just check your cell phone once and then put it away disgusted if you don't have a signal. Sometimes moving just a little bit will do the trick. You can also often catch a cell if you can get to the top of a peak or find a large clearing.

-- FLIX
 
FLIX said:
Don't just check your cell phone once and then put it away disgusted if you don't have a signal. Sometimes moving just a little bit will do the trick. You can also often catch a cell if you can get to the top of a peak or find a large clearing.

-- FLIX
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And sometimes the change in service is surprising and defies explanation. One time I was on top of a peak out of Mineral King, and it was surrounded by higher peaks with no line of sight to any cell towers in the distant San Joaquin valley. I got no cell reception on the summit. Then I went about 50' down from the summit, with the summit block between me and the valley. Suddenly I had service! Didn't make any sense to me, but it worked.
 
"defies explaination", no not really . These signals ,cell phone or radio, can take strange bounces or reflections off mountains !! Even moving a few feet sometimes can make a big difference.
 
You don't even have to move. I'm in a densely covered area in northern New Jersey, and sometimes I can't get a decent signal in my own apartment. Other times I get perfect reception here.
 
In an earlier post I mentioned that we were also following a case just across the line in NC in which an elderly couple was missing while hiking in the Pisgah Nat. Forest.
Well, they just released the lastest info indication that the wife's body had been located. Blunt force trauma to her head & videos of someone using their ATM card in Tenn. means that its a murder case now.
Nothing can help them or their family now, but if there's a lesson to be learned for others, it's that one can never be careful, no matter how "peaceful" the location. My hiking gear always includes a concealed handgun along with all the other gear we discuss in this & other forums.
 
Yup, when hiking national forests and BLM land, I always have my .45 with me, along with a hiking staff and a couple of blades. Oh, and enough cordage to tie the dead sucker to a tree if need be. :D
 
longbow50 said:
Yup, when hiking national forests and BLM land, I always have my .45 with me, along with a hiking staff and a couple of blades. Oh, and enough cordage to tie the dead sucker to a tree if need be. :D
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Ditto! Excellent plan!
 
Since we are talking about lost persons and search and rescue I have observation to make and a question to ask.

I am a Washington State resident and volunteer with a SAR team based here. I have watched three or four major search and rescue incidents in Oregon that got major local and some national coverage in the media. James Kim, the climbers on Mount Hood last December and the search for an autestic child at Crater Lake to name a few. Our team has only been activated for the Mt Hood mission and only because we have one of the few snowcats in the area. For some reason the State and County governments in Oregon do not request our assistance. Yet on a mission in Washington I was involved with this summer the sherriff brought in at least two teams from Oregon to assist. There is more to the story but I digress.
In the case of James Kim and the Crater Lake search it seemed that more searchers would have been an asset to the mission. In the case of the Kims there was a large area that needed to be covered and the mission went on for quite awhile. With volunteers it can be difficult to get enough people during the week to field an effective effort. Also fatigue and rest becomes an issue the longer a team is out in the field.
I am of the opinion that these operations could have benifited from more trained personnel regardless of what state they are from. How did politics enter into the picture when peoples lives are at stake? Any of the other SAR personel on the forum notice/experience this?
 
WoW James, very good points, I hope you get answers, or at the very least, more questions.
 
Cool gig.... were you one of the guys featured in the Esquire shoot recently?

James 61 said:
Since we are talking about lost persons and search and rescue I have observation to make and a question to ask.

I am a Washington State resident and volunteer with a SAR team based here. I have watched three or four major search and rescue incidents in Oregon that got major local and some national coverage in the media. James Kim, the climbers on Mount Hood last December and the search for an autestic child at Crater Lake to name a few. Our team has only been activated for the Mt Hood mission and only because we have one of the few snowcats in the area. For some reason the State and County governments in Oregon do not request our assistance. Yet on a mission in Washington I was involved with this summer the sherriff brought in at least two teams from Oregon to assist. There is more to the story but I digress.
In the case of James Kim and the Crater Lake search it seemed that more searchers would have been an asset to the mission. In the case of the Kims there was a large area that needed to be covered and the mission went on for quite awhile. With volunteers it can be difficult to get enough people during the week to field an effective effort. Also fatigue and rest becomes an issue the longer a team is out in the field.
I am of the opinion that these operations could have benifited from more trained personnel regardless of what state they are from. How did politics enter into the picture when peoples lives are at stake? Any of the other SAR personel on the forum notice/experience this?
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James 61 said:
Since we are talking about lost persons and search and rescue I have observation to make and a question to ask.

I Yet on a mission in Washington I was involved with this summer the sherriff brought in at least two teams from Oregon to assist. There is more to the story but I digress.
In the case of James Kim and the Crater Lake search it seemed that more searchers would have been an asset to the mission. In the case of the Kims there was a large area that needed to be covered and the mission went on for quite awhile. With volunteers it can be difficult to get enough people during the week to field an effective effort. Also fatigue and rest becomes an issue the longer a team is out in the field.
I am of the opinion that these operations could have benifited from more trained personnel regardless of what state they are from. How did politics enter into the picture when peoples lives are at stake? Any of the other SAR personel on the forum notice/experience this?
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Politics always plays a role in SAR ops to some extent. The problem lies in that there is not one all encompasing body to oversee ALL SAR ops in the United States so you get inter state pissing contests.

Canada on the other hand has that body and roles out the in charge to provincial offices with a national madate. Less politics and thus teams get called from neighbouring counties and provinces depending on situation, more effectively.

Its the Too many chiefs syndrome and no great grand poobah keeping order. Until this is fixed you will have major politics.

Yes James the lost person takes priority and whatever resources are avialable should be utilized for the reasons you mentioned.

Its all about the lost person but some cant get that little bit of common sense through their territory pissing heads.:mad:

Skam
 
nomad211 said:
In an earlier post I mentioned that we were also following a case just across the line in NC in which an elderly couple was missing while hiking in the Pisgah Nat. Forest.
Well, they just released the lastest info indication that the wife's body had been located. Blunt force trauma to her head & videos of someone using their ATM card in Tenn. means that its a murder case now.
Nothing can help them or their family now, but if there's a lesson to be learned for others, it's that one can never be too careful, no matter how "peaceful" the location. My hiking gear always includes a concealed handgun along with all the other gear we discuss in this & other forums.
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AMEN! Take at least one pistol, if not two!
 
skammer said:
Good article in that SAR doesnt get a lot of non mainstream press coverage.

http://www.esquire.com/style/style1107

I love the fact the clothing they are modelling, they would never wear and couldnt afford anyway. YOu have to love marketing.

Oh well press is press.

Skam
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Thanks for posting the link Skammer.
A $2,885 coat. WOW!! We could outfit at least two searchers (mabye three)with that kind of money. I personnally have approx 5 grand in gear but that includes everyrthing. Tents, radios, Mtn Bike, packs, boots, etc... Of course 90% of what I have was bought on sale or clearance. The 5 grand is what it would cost to replace everything at 2007 non-sale prices. The only reason I know this is I had to add a rider to my home/auto insurance to cover any theft of gear and had to put together an inventory.

To Buffalohump. No I was not in the article. First I'm to damn ugly to be in something like that and second I'm with a team based on Washington not Oregon. Our team was involved in the mission on the north side but I personnally was not on that mission. We provided our snow cat and a two man crew and that was it.
 
Well, IRRC from an article about a rescue in Zion NP, if it is an accident/beyond your control, then no problemo. If, however, it's your negligence, lack of preparedness or failure to follow the posted sighs or rules, then they bill you.

Like the 2 that were repelling andran out of rope at a ledge only halfway down.

Fortunately, this was in a location where the NPS had road access to the TOP and were ale to use a truck with a large cable spool/winch and get 'em both back up.

Of course this was ina National Park.
 
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