Week of 12/26/2009 - 16:00 to 01/02/2010 - 15:59
Canadian singer-songwriter Serena Ryder opens for Howie Day at the WOW Hall on Jan. 15. With any luck, she'll play her gorgeous, plaintive cover of Band of Horses' "The Funeral," which you can listen to on her MySpace page. Or you could just watch the live version:
The video isn't a lot to look at, but Ryder's is a shiver-inducing rendition of the song.
According to the Associated Press, yet another couple has faithfully followed their GPS's directions into Oregon's wilderness and got themselves lost.
The Nevada couple got sent down a remote national forest road by their SUV's GPS device on Christmas day, the AP's story says. John Rhodes and Starry Bush-Rhodes were stuck for three days before they got a weak signal on their cell and got winched out by Klamath Country sheriffs.
You'd think that after the whole James Kim thing where his road map and bad decisions took him, his wife and children down remote Bear Camp Road in southern Oregon (some speculate that since Kim worked for the tech website CNET and thus used GPS but interviews with his wife suggest otherwise), people would be a little wary of romping down remote roads in the winter. After all, just last year an Alabama couple used their GPS to get themselves lost on the same road that led to James Kim's death.
On a side note, it was the same sheriff, Tim Evinger of Klamath County who worked on both the Kim's case and the recent Rhodes case. He must be tired of finding lost people wandering the BLM and national forest lands of Oregon.
Another side note: One of the cover models for our 2008 Survival 101 cover story (pictured above) got lost in the woods on a snowshoe hike with her hiking-experienced partner some time after we ran the story. It can happen to anyone, even experienced hikers and backcountry trekkers. Luckily they stayed calm, stayed in one place and search and rescue got them out. A big mistake people make once lost is to keep hiking or driving, and get more lost.
The moral of the story here is: It's Oregon, it's snowing. Don't leave the main roads. Learn some basic survival skills if you plan to drive through the middle of nowhere. Your cell phone is NOT going to help you in Middle of Nowhere, Northwest.
UPDATE
Well, while I was blogging yesterday, more people were using their GPS devices to get lost! According to an update from the Lane County Sheriff's office this morning:
"DETAILS: Two women, one man, and their dog slid off this remote Forest Service road yesterday afternoon while attempting to drive to Terwilliger Hot Springs. The three, from the Portland metro area followed the route provided by their cell phone GPS program. While the route would have eventually taken them to the hot springs, it does not take into consideration seasonality and road conditions. They also lost GPS navigation when they lost cell service in the area. The three had no maps or survival gear. They were located at 11:00PM and assisted by Lane County search and rescue personnel after receiving a 911 call from the three. They had walked nearly 17 miles. They were mildly hypothermic, tired but in otherwise good condition.
The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind travelers to take basic survival kits, including maps with them and not rely totally on technology for route finding. This is especially important when traveling through national forests where going off the highway may lead to un-maintained road systems with few directional signs."
Yeah, what they said. C'mon people, just because a map says you can go there, or the voice from the GPS in your SUV says to turn there, doesn't mean you shouldn't actually consider weather conditions, road signs warning of danger, and remote conditions!
