A re-run of the story of the death of James Kim.
The Wrong Turn: The Kati Kim Story: Like a scene from a chilling horror movie, a young family is trapped in a snowstorm in isolated woods miles away from any help and surrounded by grizzly bears. Snowed in and unable to move their vehicle, the Kims spend nine long days stranded in south-western Oregon’s remote bear infested wilderness, some 33 miles from the nearest town. Rationing their meager food supplies, surviving off local berries and spending their nights in sub-zero temperatures, the frightened family resort to burning their possessions in an attempt to signal help – and stay alive. Reported missing by friends and family, the Kims strange disappearance makes national news.
How did the Kims survive such an extreme environment? What clues did the family leave the heroic search teams? And what happened when dad, James Kim, decided to leave the car and looks for help? After years of silence and with an exclusive, never before seen interview, mom and survivor, Kati Kim, tells her story and gives us a heartfelt insight into how a family Christmas vacation ended in a struggle for survival, an intensive search and rescue effort – and a family tragedy. Jay Schadler reports. (OAD: 2/11/11)
It disgusts me that no mention is ever made of the fact that very little is clearly labeled in the Pacific Northwest. James Kim would not have died if people in the Northwest were courteous enough, decent enough, or intelligent enough to post clear, consistent signage for travelers.
James Kim’s only mistake was applying expectations to the Northwest that are customary and reasonable in other parts of the United States. There is a cultural bias here that says, in effect, “I live here, so I know where I’m going and I don’t need no signs, so I ain’t payin’ no taxes for ’em.” Northwesterners would rather pay thousands of dollars for helicopter search and rescue missions (perhaps so they can have something dramatic to watch on the TV), than to post signs that help travelers stay alive and safe. It is the same kind of thinking that led Ford to sell Pintos in spite of a design flaw that resulted in the incineration of some luckless drivers: a few lawsuits cost less than a recall. Or road signs. Besides – it’s your problem, not mine.
In his open letter in the San Francisco Chronicle, James Kim’s father, Spencer, asks for more oversight on logging roads. “Such measures might not have stopped James and his family from being misled by a map that depicted the road they chose through the Coast Range as a major thoroughfare, but they would have prevented the ill-fated turn that led them into a maze of logging roads and across treacherous terrain that travelers never should have had access to in the first place.”
It will never happen. There are over 5,000 miles of logging roads in Oregon, and inadequate manpower to monitor gates and access. It is possible, however, to omit those roads from maps – or at least properly describe and show them as marginally passable – and to post adequate signage to keep travelers on main roads.
The Oregon State Police reported that the Kims were using an official State of Oregon highway map. It took this inexcusable tragedy for the State of Oregon to redraw their maps, so that the route the Kims took “is no longer shown as viable.”
People coming from other places have no reason to expect that the Pacific Northwest has more in common with rural Alaska than the rest of the developed areas in the lower 48, especially with Seattle’s reputation for being a high-tech Mecca. The infrastructure is underdeveloped and under-designed in ways that push additional time and fuel consumption costs onto residents, a significant number of whom who do not seem to mind.
Locals routinely vilify outsiders as ignorant and careless, as if everyone has full knowledge that the area is primitive, and that it is easy for anyone to become truly, thoroughly lost.
If you’re coming here, you should be forewarned that the maps for the developed areas – including online mapping services – are inaccurate. I live in a development that is six years old and it is still not in Mapquest or Microsoft Streets & Trips. The USPS regularly delivers our mail to an incorrect address nearly 4 miles to the east.
For undeveloped areas, you are on your own. Travel at your own risk. A compass, navigational skills, weapons and extra provisions are essential. Knowledge of orienteering and survival techniques are a plus. Buy an emergency beacon, and let someone out in civilization know your itinerary, and when you are expected to hit points on the map. And for God’s sake, don’t make a mistake reading the few signs that are posted. You could easily share James Kim’s fate.