[pct-l] If lost, and if at possible, stay out of canyons

[Adam Bradley]

Hello All,
  This is a real sad development, another death in the
Klamath Siskiyou.  I worked in this area for several
years (over 100 54 mile trips through the canyon).  My
amigo and I have tromped all over and the lodge he was
so close to is one I spent 54 nights in.  It is also
run by good friends of mine.  The roads in this area
have claimed other lives in the past.  I beleive one
of the cheif culprits is that it appears as a scenic
byway in the road atlases.  It just isnt a trip over
Bear Camp without running into handfuls of tourists
lost on their way to the coast.  Also there has been a
major landslide in the area for years which has made
the detours even more confusing.  One would not want
to set off into these mountains without current road
conditions and the FS maps that shows all the road
#'s.  First year I worked here a fellow had driven his
camper up and got stuck on top near bear camp.  He was
found when the road opened in the spring and it
appeared he starved to death.  I agree with the posts
here that state that heading down a canyon is a bad
idea.  Especially in the terrain of the Klamath
Siskiyou.  For one this piece of earth used to be off
the coast of Japan millions of years ago.  Due to
ocean floor spreading the piece of earth (gabbro which
is a part of the earths mantle that cooled under
ground when it lost its heat source)slowly crossed the
pacific.  When it encountered the continental plate
instead of subducting it accreeted onto the coast of
oregon thus adding to the coast of oregon.  more
recently (4 million years ago) this area started to
rise as part of the Klamath Peneplane.  Needless to
say this gabbro is slicker than snot.  I watched
several of my guests over the years take extreme
diggers on the gabbro.  I can't even imagine trying to
come down the wet canyon in a survival situation being
both cold and damp.  In fact we had to evacuate a 85
year old woman who had opened her shin up from ankle
to knee on these rocks (yours truly practiced the
first aid and when she got to the hospital in Medford
they where amazed at how clean I had gotten the wound
and closed it.  They just shot antibiotic around it
and left it packaged the way I had.)

unless you are a river rat super supreme stay out of
the canyon, because what happens in the canyon stays
in the canyon....listo
--- dsaufley at sprynet.com wrote:

> When I was in middle school, a guy from a local
> outfitter known as "Gizmo" came and gave us a
> backpacking presentation in an after school
> assembly.  I so clearly remember his advice, which
> closely mirrors what you've said:
> 
> If you get lost -- believe that they will come
> looking for you.  Don't go down anywhere, or move
> very far.  Go to a clearing, whether it be a ridge
> or a clearly open space, and STAY PUT.  Use rocks,
> tree limbs, whatever -- and spell out "HELP" or
> "SOS"  where it can be viewed from the air.  
> 
> Of course, this wouldn't work in all situations, but
> it made good sense to me when I was 12, and it still
> does.
> 
> L-Rod
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Scott Herriott <yetifan at yahoo.com>
> >Sent: Dec 6, 2006 1:38 PM
> >To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> >Subject: [pct-l] If lost, and if at possible, stay
> out of canyons
> >
> >   As evidenced by John Donovan's disappearance and
> >death about a year and a half ago along with the
> just
> >announced discovery of James Kim's body found in a
> >ravine in SW Oregon after going to look for help
> for
> >his stranded family, I think it's appropriate to
> >mention here that if, for whatever reason, you
> happen
> >to get lost out in the wilderness, one of the lasts
> >thing you EVER want to do is to head down into a
> >canyon or ravine and try and follow a creek down to
> a
> >river or presumed road...especially in cold
> weather. 
> >It's, generally, going to A) be colder down there
> B)
> >the sound of the water could very well drown you or
> >any impending rescuers out and C) you could, as was
> >the case with John, get "cliffed out".  John, in
> all
> >probability, saw the lights of Palm Springs and
> >assumed things would get less treacherous as he
> >descended...they got worse.  It seems to me, if AT
> ALL
> >possible, follow close to ridgelines (barring deep
> >snow levels).  
> >   I was lucky enough to work with James Kim a few
> >years back at TechTV.  He was a great guy.
> >
> >
> >Squatch
> >   
> >
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