Dec. 09, 2006 - 20:00 MST

COMES TOO LATE

Thinking back I often wonder why I didn't listen to the advice of older folk, remembering the trouble I had when I didn't.

There is an article in this Morning's The Denver Post's editorial page that relates a heart breaking occurrence recently. Quoted here in full:

A TRAGIC TRAVEL WARNING

Man's death in Oregon wilderness should remind us all to be prepared and cautious on the road

"The story of James Kim's efforts to rescue his family from Oregon''s snowy wilderness contains grim lessons that we should all heed when traveling in unknown territory."

"Kim and his family were on their way home to San Francisco after spending Thanksgiving in Seattle when they took a wrong turn on a snowy mountain pass. The family was stranded for seven days, with little food and their car immobile, before Kim set out on foot to try to find help."

"His wife and two children were rescued, but Kim died of hypothermia after trekking 10 miles in tennis shoes."

"The Colorado Search and Rescue Board recommends that travelers follow a safety plan. A full gas tank is critical. If you get stuck in a snowstorm, stay in the vehicle and run the engine periodically while you await help. Howard Paul, president of SCRB, said while a car is not the best shelter, it's better than anything that can be fabricated in the woods."

"A car is also a bigger object for searchers to locate."

"Be prepared for the weather you're going to travel through en route to your destination. "Have the mindset and physical preparations to survive on your own," said Paul."

"Pack prescription medicine, even if you're just doing a day trip to, say, Vail. Interstate 70 has been known to close down for hours at a time."

"Obvious essentials should be kept in the car: food, water, a flashlight, candles, a shovel, blankets."

"Don't depend on technologly like cell-phones, especially when traveling to the backcountry, because coverage can be intermittent or nonexistent and batteries can die. The Kim family had three mobile phones, which were left on and helped searchers narrow the location of the family car. But they weren't able to contact anyone."

"They also had two laptops, which were of no help. They did not have a Global Positioning System, which might or might not have helped."

"Finally, if planning to travel off the beaten path, always tell other people your route and estimated time of arrival at your destination, "so if you don't show up, searchers can immediately narrow the area."

++++++++++++++++++++

A feeling of immortalilty and invincibility seems to exist with us men when we are younger. A belief that we can handle most any emergency.

Yet, thinking back a ways I see just how fortunate I was at different times of difficulty.

Perhaps it was those desert travelers who carried a canvas water bag or two on their front bumpers so that they would have cool water to drink before they got to a source of more water, which helped me to begin learning the sensible way to do things.

One thing I did learn early on was to have an up-to-date road map with me, and consulted it at coffee stops. And, just thinking about it I can remember when a road map was handy to get around a blockage on the route I was traveling here in town. There are so many places that, "you can't get there from here," wherein consulting a map helps you avoid that problem.

Even meandering around town we carry extra wraps, gloves and a couple of blankets. A can of oil, windshield washer liquid and a kit of handtools. If we are going to be out and away from town, a flashlight and some new batteries. We are getting a cell phone for Christmas and it will accompany us on our way to where-ever. Always I have a liter of water, half ice when we start out and Heather has the same. If going on a little trip, more water is loaded on. And on those little trips we take we always have fruit and foodstuffs and of course a cooler. Never know when a breakdown could occur miles from anywhere with passing traffic not willing to stop and lend a hand.

The article speaks of I-70 which is the main east-west interstate through Colorado, through the prairie of the eastern part of the state on through the foothills and then mountains and on the western edge the arid area west of Grand Junction. But to my mind my memory tells me of times I was in a bind in a much more settled area, but in essence was alone to solve my own problems.

I probably should have bolded and italicized all things people should think of before they take off, whether locally or for a distance. Those recommendations are important.

Ten miles walked in tennis shoes in snowy forest country says a lot for the stick-to-it-iveness of Mr. Kim in his effort to rescue his family, he deserves to be lovingly remembered by all, but should still be with us today. And if we all take heed and carry with us what we might need we will be safe and happy, rather than the time when a warning COMES TOO LATE . . . . . . . . . . . .

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