Granted this is a list about paddle sports, but I just can't get my mind off James Kim and his family. They are from San Francisco and had gone to Seattle for Thanksgiving. They had reservations at Tu Tu Tun Lodge in Gold Beach on the southern Oregon coast on the way home to SF. For whatever reason, James decided to leave I-5 at Grants Pass and drive over the coastal mountains in winter-like conditions. I'm sure many of us have found ourselves lost and/or stuck in the snow. The family car was located by helicopter, stuck on a remote logging road about halfway between Grants Pass and Gold Beach. His wife and two daughters were in relatively good shape, but unfortunately, James set out on foot last Saturday to find help. The family had been stranded for about nine days already. James apparently walked about two miles along a road and then dropped down into a rugged drainage that eventually connects with the Rogue River. The general location is called something like Bear Camp Road. The route they were taking is closed in winter but also difficult to traverse in summer. It was the most direct, in terms of miles, way of getting from Grants Pass to Gold Beach. James Kim is a very intelligent person, 35 years old, very successful and enterprising in San Francisco. He works in high tech, is an editor of a tech journal, and owns two boutiques. In fact, he is rather remarkable. And yet, something went terribly wrong on their return trip from Seattle to San Francisco. This kind of tragedy seems to occur almost every year in the Pacific Northwest. Skiers get lost, campers and hunters and hikers get lost, woodcutters and mushroom pickers get lost, tourists get lost. If it can happen to James Kim, it can happen to any of us. I don't know if James Kim will be found alive, but my heart goes out to him and his family and large circle of friends. Regardless of the final outcome, I believe we all can learn from this tragedy. I believe we must learn from this incident. It's the least we can do. We can also give support to the dedicated, brave people of SAR. It also seems clear the authorities in Josephine County do not have the full resources that they need in such emergencies. There is no excuse for our emergency services being anything but fully funded. Finally, it may be too late for James Kim, but if anyone has any idea how he can be located in such remote and rugged and cold terrain, I'm sure we would all (including SAR and the Josephine County Sherrif's Office) like to hear it. Bradford R. Crain Department of Mathematics and Statistics Portland State University 724 SW Harrison St. 334 Neuberger Hall Portland, Or. 97201 e-mail: crainb_at_pdx.edu phone: 503-725-3127 fax: 503-725-3661 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Dec 06 2006 - 09:22:39 PST
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