Posted on 12/26/2016 7:44:34 PM PST by BenLurkin
After walking 26 miles in the snow along a desolate stretch of the Grand Canyon over 36 hours, a Las Vegas woman is now safe and recovering from exposure at a Utah hospital.
Karen Klein was enjoying a holiday vacation with her husband and 10-year-old son when their car got stuck in the mud near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona late last week.
Klein said she'd decided to be the one to go get help because her husband had recently been in an accident.
Outdoorsy and athletic, she thought she could brave the elements herself.
"I said, 'I'll go, I'll just walk up to the main road. I'm a runner,'" Klein recounted Monday.
Unaware that the area is closed to vehicle traffic during the winter, Klein decided to walk to the nearest main road in hopes of flagging down a passing car.
Hours later, she found herself alone in the dark.
...
At last, Klein came across an uninhabited residence for park rangers and broke the glass with her elbow to get in. She didn't know it at the time, but when she hadn't returned to the car, her husband and son walked in the opposite direction until they got cell service and were able to call for help. A search and rescue team discovered Klein in the residence she had broken into.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
She’s a runner . . . . and a gambler.
“Cannot say it any other way. She is heroic.”
Yep. She’s also a bit daft.
1) Never go on “vacation” in remote areas in winter unless you are truly prepared.
2) Never go into a remote area over holidays when people tend to stay home (e.g. Christmas time). If something goes wrong you’re less likely to get helped because you’ll be less likely to run into people by chance because they were smart enough to stay home with their families.
“I’m glad this lady and her family lived but she was stupid to put herself and her family in that situation to begin with. She is not a hero, she is a very lucky stupid moron.”
BINGO!
Solutions-oriented....except she admitted her plan was not fully "investigated." Bad planning, bad execution, nonexistent contingency plan. Not a good leader.
Interesting posting.
Welcome to Free Republic!
And now, the rest of the story.
The Northampton Community College professor who survived more than a day exposed to Grand Canyon snow and freezing temperatures made it in part by eating pine tree twigs and drinking her urine. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Lehigh-Valley-woman-ate-twigs-drank-urine-to-survive.html
Too many Nike and Subaru commercials for these people.
Very interesting. Aristotle (382-322 BC) wrote how an ethical person prepares for happiness and needs virtue to become proper. We need to be ethical and spend 95% of our lives preparing for the rare 5% moments of happiness. It takes tons of virtue to live off the grid in the snow. Bravo.
My father packed his five little kids in the car for a quick trip to the Grand Canyon for a mule ride. He was virtuous and packed chains and flares which we needed. The ranger at the Grand Canyon said the mules were closed due to snow. That was the first and last time I heard my father say, “Damn.” Then we went to Denny’s, got hot chocolate, and drove quietly back to Los Angeles.
One thing I left out is that all of our rigs have winter survival/emergency kits in them as well and all of us know how to use all of the equipment and supplies in them. We are Ham’s as well and our rigs have mobile ham radios and the kits all have portables.
Because it was? Not necessarily passible though...
The rare times I hike in isolated areas I know my cell phone is useless. I carry an aviation transervier. I can go to the emergency frequency and get help if needed on 121.5. Never needed it and I do not go to the North Rim in winter, that is stupid. I am glad that this family survived despite their stupidity;
None of us really cared. We all had dates for the trip so it was a "learning experience", if you get my drift. :-)
I guess Expedia was too complicated to use?
I take it there wasn't an Uber Driver in the area.
I spent New Years Day 1976 at El Tovar on the South Rim with my outdoorsy girlfriend (she enjoyed winter snow camping). The GC in the dead of winter is indeed magnificent...and quiet.
I have a big 4x4 pickup. During winter months I have a go-bag in the back.
And I live in the freakin’ city. I guess I was taught something in Boy Scouts.
You make excellent points.
If you plan to vacation in a remote or even a near-remote area of Arizona, carry emergency clothing, food, water and communications. You never need these things until you do need them. Trust me. I have met the rangers doing searches for lost “civilians” and the lady that owns the bloodhounds. Those are great things, but not all stories of lost people end well! Always ask yourself “What will I do if....?”
If a hero causes other people to put themselves in danger unnecessarily then yes she is a hero. That is not to mention the expense, time, energy and wear and tear on machinery and the fact that those costs are usually carried by the volunteer searchers themselves.
I have been on several SAR events for idiots just like this woman. We dropped everything and went on the following SAR for someone that violated every rule of back country travel with very young children involved. That search was 135 miles from my place in the dead of Winter.
http://www.ktvn.com/story/24170526/missing-pershing-co-family-found-alive-in-good-condition
We spent a long day searching 20 miles from where they were found because they didn’t go where they told their contacts they were headed too. Completely unacceptable to put young kids in that kind of danger.
+1. Sounds like you are well prepared. We don’t have the dozer but a tractor with a loader and very capable 4x4 equipment. We could easily go for a month with out any outside assistance.
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