Reply #51: After they missed the turn off, they tried to take a shortcut

[depakid]

Saturday, Nov. 25

After visits in Seattle and Portland, the Kims were headed to Gold Beach, but they missed the turnoff to Highway 42 south of Roseburg and decided to take a shortcut north of Grants Pass, heading west.

They drove up Bear Camp Road, which becomes a single-lane road. Although fine during summer, the road often is impassable in winter because of snow. Rescuers have to go up every year to bring back travelers who get stuck in the snow.

At one point, they had to get out of their car and remove rocks from the road. It was snowing hard, and the Kims apparently could not continue on Bear Camp Road in their all-wheel drive Saab station wagon. They tried to back up, but turned down a Bureau of Land Management road. The agency closes it off with a locked gate in the winder, but somebody had vandalized the gate, leaving it open.

They drove the side road about 15 miles to get below the snow line. They stopped for the night at a fork in the road at about the 3,000-foot elevation.

Sunday, Nov. 26

When they woke up, it had snowed so much overnight that they were trapped....

More: http://www.oregonlive.com/newslogs/oregonian/index.ssf?/mtlogs/olive_oregonian_news/archives/2006_12.html#212658