I watched the 20/20 special last night. The Kim Family was retruning to San Francisco from Portland after a Thankgiving visit. At some point they dicided to take the coast route south instead of the interstate. They missed the turnoff for the route they intended to take and eventually ended up on a series of forest service and finally logging roads. Weather came in andthey were stranded. Link to the story on ABC.com
Here is what I think they did right and what they did wrong. Wrong: Not turning around and returning to the main route between I5 and the Coast Route. God knows I’ve done plenty of back roads exploring but not at night with approaching weather and young kids in the car. In fact I’ve driven that very route they ended up on. Right: Once they realized they were lost and not likely to find they way back to the main road they parked at a fork in the road figuring that was the best chance of someone seeing them. Right: They did have some food, but not nearly enough. Right: They did build a signal fire. Wrong: They let the fire die after only one day, they should have kept the fire going. Big logs will keep the fire going all night and shelter the fire from rain and snow. Wrong: The father dicided to hike for help. This may be OK if you know where you are going and are sure you have the strength to get there. As it was the father wandered some 16 miles in deep forest and ended up barely 2 miles from where he started. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong: The father in his hike to seek help got of the road and into the deep woods. Those of us who hunt or regularly go off trail in the woods know how hard travel is in the deep woods. Not only is it physically exhusting but it hard to retain your sense of direction.
