XPost: alt.forestry, misc.rural   
   From: tinapetrsn@yahoo.com   
      
   "gatt"  wrote in message   
   news:12njhg9jqqudfcc@corp.supernews.com...   
   >   
   > "Larry Caldwell"  wrote in message   
   > news:1165601435.772933.325470@80g2000cwy.googlegroups.com...   
   >   
   > >>    We lose about 100 people per day in traffic accidents in the U.S.   
   > >> Part of those 100 made fatal mistakes.  Kim isn't much different than   
   > >> them.  His mistakes just took longer.   
   > >   
   > > It's easy to second guess decisions, but we all end up in the weeds   
   > > once in a while.   
   >   
   > Larry, I'm of the opinion that a few people posting on this thread haven't   
   > even actually seen the type of road and terrain we're talking about.  Lot   
   of   
   > talk about faggots, gangs, Twin Towers, welfare, malls, Wal-Mart, traffic   
   > accidents and bad neighborhoods.     These are the exact things I bet   
   > you -don't- think about when you're putting on your snow tires in November   
   > or working your way over Stagecoach Pass.   
   >   
   > > I just hate to see something like this happen.  I hate it.   
   >   
   > Yeah, me too. He made mistakes and he paid for them with his own life   
   > because he was trying to help his family, but there's no indication that   
   he   
   > didn't do the very best he knew how to do. That's the essense of humanity.   
   >   
   > >What we do know is that a simple emergency road kit would have turned a   
   > >fatal situation into an   
   > > adventure.   
   >   
   > Hell, he almost didn't even need that.  All he had to do was stay put and   
   > keep the stoking that fire.   
   >   
   > -c   
      
      
   Stoking the fire.  This is the thing that gets me the most.  First thing I   
   thought of when I heard he'd burned all his tires was, Why?  Why burn all of   
   them?  When we had slag heaps to burn in Northern Calif, we'd have to wait   
   until nasty, cold, wet weather when there was little danger of forest fire.   
   We'd through a couple old tires on top and get it burning.  Then the fire   
   gets so hot you can burn anything, including wet punky wood.  I think their   
   best bet would have been to keep a fire burning hot and dirty for both   
   warmth and a signal.   
      
   But then I do have experience with remote living and I also know what it's   
   like in the Trinity, Shasta, Siskiyou Mtns.  As I mentioned in the thread re   
   Ann's cell phone needs,   
   my mother just returned in mid November from 4 months in the mountains (not   
   "Alps") in the Trinity-Shasta National Forest in Northern Calif.  It is   
   extremely isolated.  No phone or electric lines.  15 miles of private dirt   
   roads until you get to 30 miles of dirt "access road" (old logging road).  A   
   neighbor, much closer to paved road, has a satellite phone, and even that   
   won't work unless he leaves his house for more elevation.   
      
   Most people live in settled areas, even rural folk.  This area is remote, is   
   wilderness.  I'm glad Kim's family survived.   
      
   Tina   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)