James Kim didn't make it

[Guest]

CNN is reporting his body has been found. Four nights in the open, it isn't really surprising.

The experts say, stay with the car.

I grieve for his wife and two small children.

 

[cloudy]

Did they find all four of them?

Last I heard all of them were missing.

 

[irishrule05]

Did they find all four of them?

Last I heard all of them were missing.

found wife and kids a couple of days ok.... they are fine

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

The wife and two kids were found in the early hours the day before yesterday in the car. Kim was found this morning dead. For some ungodly reason he took one layer of clothes off and climbed down into a ravine that is almost inpassable.

But the real question is, he was going down I-5 to San Francisco. I-5 goes all the way, unbroken from the Canadian boder to San Diego. But they took off up in the mountains on a side road someplace up the Rogue River in a snow storm. WHY???

 

[Guest]

But the real question is, he was going down I-5 to San Francisco. I-5 goes all the way, unbroken from the Canadian boder to San Diego. But they took off up in the mountains on a side road someplace up the Rogue River in a snow storm.

The CNN story goes into that some.

"After leaving Portland on Interstate 5, search leaders said, the couple missed a turnoff that leads to the coast and took a wrong turn on a twisty mountain road they chose as an alternative.

Stuck, they used their car heater until they ran out of gas then burned tires to stay warm and attract attention. With only a few jars of baby food and limited supplies, Kati Kim nursed her children.

The area's complicated road network is commonly used by whitewater rafters on the Rogue River or as a shortcut to the coast in the summer, but it is not plowed in the winter."
​

San Francisco is an interesting place. With its temperate climate, it never ever gets snow. But drive a couple hours in winter, and you're in snow in the Sierras. Some born and bred San Franciscans, used to driving to Reno and Tahoe on carefully maintained roads don't truly understand the dangers of driving in rural areas in snow even though that route takes them through Donner Pass, named of course for an 19th century snowy trip that didn't go well, The Donner Party.

In a city where the distance between homes is measured in inches, people don't always understand that they can get really truly be miles from anywhere. Intellectually, they know it, but in reality they often fail to make decisions properly. I have friends that have had minor brushes with problems like this with luckier outcomes.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Ohhhhhhh NO!


Damnit, why did he have to go off and try to be a hero!??!


*sigh*

 

[Aurora Black]

Ohhhhhhh NO!


Damnit, why did he have to go off and try to be a hero!??!


*sigh*

It's a man thing, I believe. He wanted to save his family.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

In a city where the distance between homes is measured in inches, people don't always understand that they can get really truly be miles from anywhere. Intellectually, they know it, but in reality they often fail to make decisions properly. I have friends that have had minor brushes with problems like this with luckier outcomes.

Having lived and played in that area for 30 years, I know for a fact the pass through those mountains is CLOSED most of the time from November until March. That is extremely rough country. It's steep, the tree cover is dense, this time of year it's cold, snowy and there's really not much to see. The fact is, they were on a limited use logging road. The Siskiyou Pass, which is the only route through the wilderness in that area, is a well marked, major road about 50 miles south of where they turned off I-5. This whole thing is just nuts. They needed to go on through Grants Pass, then west toward Cave Junction and down through Selma and across the Kalamath Forest.

:shaking head:

 

[MagicaPractica]

Ohhhhhhh NO!


Damnit, why did he have to go off and try to be a hero!??!


*sigh*

I understand it had been a week already when he left. (perhaps I heard that wrong) He probably felt his only options were to try or sit and watch his family die. Very sad.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I understand it had been a week already when he left. (perhaps I heard that wrong) He probably felt his only options were to try or sit and watch his family die. Very sad.

I know I know, but the irony...

it's just too painful to think about...

 

[MagicaPractica]

I know I know, but the irony...

it's just too painful to think about...

I agree.

 

[R. Richard]

The guy left clothing in a highly visible place. Presumably he new he was dying and wanted resquers to find his body, presumably with directions as to where to find his family. No man could have done more.

 

[SeaCat]

What happened here is sad, but not unexpected to me. Too many people reuse to plan for the worst case.

I live by the old adage, one beaten into me when I was younger. Hope for the best and plan for the worst.

Cat

 

[Guest]

Google mapping of James travels...

http://www.layoutscene.com/james-kim-path/index.html

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Sea is absolutely correct. You don't go wandering around the wilderness areas in Oregon during a snow storm unless you KNOW what you are doing, KNOW where the hell you are and have everything you will need if you get stuck or lost.