Letters to the Editor
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Close to Home
The tragic story of the Kim tragedy struck close to home for me and my family and has been a real eye opener for.
Like the Kims, we are from the San Francisco area. We moved to Portland in June and as the summer turned to fall and fall to winter, we have come to learn first hand that Oregon weather is much harsher than Northern California even in the relatively mild Willamette Valley.
I was traveling to the Oregon coast with my wife and infant son on the very same weekend as the Kims. We drove a very different route and took a few more precautions then they did - we researched the route ahead of time, checked road conditions before leaving, and got an early start. Even so, there were parts of the route that were much narrower and more remote than I expected. The rain came down in sheets at times and we encountered patches of ice and snow at higher elevations. We never really felt unsafe, but there were times when we wondered if perhaps we should have taken a less "scenic" route.
Ultimately, if something had happened we would not have been truly prepared. We had only a Map Quest print out of the route. We had no chains and few extra provisions. No first aid kit. No water.
When we got back to Portland and read about the Kims, we were shocked. That could have been us. If we had taken a different route or left too late. If anything good can come out of this, it is that perhaps more people will take the proper precautions before setting out on a winter journey. I know I will.
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Older? Yeah. Wiser? Bullhockey
No natural hazards in California? Alex, I'll take tectonic plates and subterranean faults for 35,000,000. Santa Ana winds? Wildfires burning fancy canyon homes all crispy? Nah, nothin' here. Keep walking. Watch the sharks once you get off the coast. Jeez.
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Tragic turn.
It's not a popular thing to say, but the Kims themselves are to blame. I have driven the road in question and can say that without a doubt, anyone trying to get from 5 to the coast on it in snowy weather is a fool. It is literally a one-lane road with potholes and unpaved sections.
Unfortunately they were city dwellers with no knowledge of the very real dangers that winter weather brings to the mountain West. James Kim's death was not the fault of any laws or of an unlocked gate or of any of the rescuers. Only he is to blame.
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Not the same
Tom - I stand by my assertion. I never said that conditions in California are always, everywhere safe. I simply said that typical winter road conditions in rural Oregon - and the winter weather in general - are far more dangerous on average than I had experienced living in Northern California. I was speaking from my experience and of what I guessed the experience of the Kims might have been.
In any case, your examples are specious and irrelevant. As bad as they are, earthquakes and wild fires are not typical conditions. As for Santa Ana winds, my posting never refered to Southern California - it's a place I try to avoid so I would never claim to speak on behalf of its residents.
You can engage in all the pointless hyperbole you want, you can can bring up all the irrelevent, misleading comparisons you can think of (you forgot shark attacks) but it will not change the fact that my statement is correct.
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dnheise
As a lont-time resident of the Northern Sierra Nevada, I can assure you that these mountains can be every bit as dangerous as anything in Oregon. In the winter, I always carry in my 4WD car: snow boots, heavy gloves, waterproof pants, a shovel, matches, hand warmers, a sleeping bag, an extra winter coat, and a hat. The car is also equipped with heavy duty studded snow tires.
I know the Kims could not have been expected to be as well outfitted as I am. But then, they should have stayed on the main road to begin with.
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No Itinerary?
An itinerary left with family and friends would also have saved their lives. You can have all the water, energy bars, and sleeping bags you like in the trunk of your car, but if no one has any idea of when you left and when you plan to return, vital search time is completely wasted. Those left behind in San Francisco didn't know they were even missing for three or four days.
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Ken Anderson's letter
Such a thoughtful post. It is the rare moment of finding such a considered analysis that I still check the responses to some Salon articles. Thank you, Mr. Anderson.
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Jame's Kim
In James Kim's astrological chart for his birthday ( exact birth time not known) Neptune the planet of confusion was conjunct his natal conjunction of mars and the north node. He might have had more of a tendency to be confused and rash at this time.
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Search deserves scrutiny
I agree the tragedy of the Kims was the result of some terrible choices. The responsibility (perhaps a better word than "blame") does also rest with the search and government agencies involved. As a former Oregonian who's travelled many of the coastal highways, I've followed the story with interest. The Oregonian newspaper has chronicled the troubling missteps of both the Kims AND the morass of ten government agencies whose conflicting information and lack of central command may not have doomed Mr. Kim but certainly hampered his hopes for rescue:
"Many of the key missteps came in Josephine County. The search-and-rescue coordinator now acknowledges she was overwhelmed by the demands of the search. She failed to call for help from the National Guard, which meant that heat-detecting helicopters stayed on the ground in the crucial two nights James Kim slept in the forest.
Her direct supervisor, an undersheriff in his last week on the job, said he ignored a late-night call from her about the case because he was watching an Oregon State football game on television.
Perhaps the most significant lost opportunity came on Sunday, Dec. 3, when two helicopter pilots discovered tire tracks on the snow-encrusted logging road that led directly to the Kims' marooned car. Randy Jones, the second pilot, landed on the road and directly confirmed the sighting, which he said he relayed to Josephine County dispatchers.
"A truck sent to check the road turned back a few hours later, stymied by the deep snow. The searchers filed a report that evening saying they had seen "lots of tire and foot tracks" and that their assignment was "not completed." The Oregonian, Dec. 17, 2006
for more:
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/11663313078330.xml?oregonian?lctop&coll=7