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Topic: GPS's, PLB's, CB's, Cell Phones, Mapquest,.....and the lost motorho (Read 5 times) previous topic - next topic
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GPS's, PLB's, CB's, Cell Phones, Mapquest,.....and the lost motorho
Yahoo Message Number: 64530
I'm really glad that talking about some of these issues has caused me to take a personal digression/exploration into the broader context of this incident. There are plenty of lessons here for everyone - IMHO
 If you enter a request for directions from Grants Pass to Gold Beach (Oregon) into Mapquest it returns the route they were trying to take.
Nothing there shows that the road is closed to winter travel.

It seems they looked at a road map - not otherwise specified - and chose the most direct route between the two towns.
 I took out my copy of this year's official state map from the Oregon Department of Transportation, and can see how easily they erred. My map does show their route as closed in winter, but its easy to believe that their map didn't. Or, perhaps they missed the notation.
Mapquest's website and printed atlas both fail to note the winter closure.

A casual look at the topography of the area they ended up in is sobering. Enter Calvert Peak Airport (a few yards from where their motorhome still is) into Topozone, and take a look at the Dutchman Butte Quadragle. That's some seriously rough country by any standard.
 The Klamath and Siskyou Mountains are among the most rugged and remote mountains in the lower 48. The heavy snow and rainfall have made a jagged and jumbled terrain of deep canyons separated by numberless thin ridges. The weather can be treacherous any time of the year and summer snows are not uncommon.
 They did clear the top of the motorhome, and fly the windsock from the airstrip from the top. They set signal fires. They also stamped-out messages in the snow. Problem was that they were a little away from the areas the searchers were looking.

I think they're damned lucky to have survived - it could have been fatal - easily.

So what lessons are there here for us?

First, know where you are and where you're going. Used to be easier said than done, but GPS has definitely made this a lot more possible for all. But, I don't know that it would have saved them from their first mistake which was trying to go that way to begin with.
 The best way from Ashland/Medford/Grants Pass to the coast is Highway 199 from Grants Pass to Crescent City, California - 85 miles or so to the Southwest. That's narrow, winding and two-laned enough for most people, and no picnic in any motorhome.
 Their route was along county, Forest Service and BLM roads. So maybe one lesson is to avoid those type roads when you don't know them, and the weather or season is questionable. Its a good practice to enquire locally, but I, for one, have been known not to do so. This cautionary tale will encourage me to ask more often.

Another lesson I'm taking is to buy a portable GPS. I like the boondocks too much not to use the technology, and it could have prevented all this.

A lesson they've reinforced is the value of emergency preparation.
Having food, fuel and warm clothing kept them from tragedy.
 I'm also thinking that a personal locator beacon is a good investment for me and anyone else who regularly ventures into out of the way places. But, as Andy pointed out, there are alternatives that are worth considering.

As an Oregonian, I know that most of the state is out of cell phone coverage. Newcomers like the Stivers and many others probably don't realize just how skimpy cell phone coverage is out here. CB's, portable ham radio equipment and PLB's all offer useful capabilities - be familiar with your equipment and prepared for the unexpected.

Which really summarizes the whole thing.

Regards,

Rick Lewis KWTB, Portland, OR