Today’s Kim Notebook

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*CNN put on a half-hour report last night on the Kim story (on “Paula Zahn Now” ). A reporter and crew traveled with some locals over Bear Camp Road to BLM 34-8-36, then down to the spot where the Kims stopped (CNN published a transcript of the show and a brief Web story on the trip down to where the car was found). One thing that distinguishes the CNN report from others is that it questions the Kim’s judgment in taking the route, especially the BLM turnoff. (Image above: From a KGO (San Francisco) TV report carried by CNN on December 8; the sign displayed is near Merlin, Oregon, close to the eastern end of Bear Camp Road and Interstate 5).

*When maps don’t help: Just an aside, and I apologize if it’s an obvious one: It’s clear from all the reporting on the story that the Kims used an Oregon road map–probably the 2005 version of the state’s official map–to choose their route over the mountains. It has also been widely reported that James Kim used the map to try to decide what path to take out of the wilderness. But that map was useless for the kind of navigation he was attempting. Since it covers the entire state, Its scale is vast, so it omits many local features (such as the creek we was seeking to follow). And since it’s a road map, it contains no details of topography. You can go for a nice drive without the kind of information the map lacks; but you can hardly find your way through the back-country–even when you’re on a logging road–without that information. (Here’s the topo view of the spot, marked with a red cross and the elevation notation 2402, where the Kims stopped the night they got lost; the Rogue River, at approximate elevation 520 feet above sea level, is to the upper right).

*When the Web helps: Early on, a lot was made of the possibility that the Kims used online mapping services that might have given them directions to use Bear Camp Road as a short cut to Gold Beach. There’s nothing to those suggestions, according to accounts of what Kati Kim told police. Online maps, used by themselves on the fly, would be no more help than the paper state map the Kims did use. Some of the tools that come along with online maps–for instance, Google Maps satellite views and Google Earth’s ability to let users “fly” a route–do make it possible to get a lot more information and perspective on a route than a traditional two-dimensional map. The caveat is that you have to take time to study what the newer tools are really telling you, keeping in mind that the real world will look different from the virtual one, no matter how sophisticated the imagery (check a comparison of the Google Earth image of the Kims’ location with a photograph of the car site; and, as noted above, there’s also the topographical view to consult).

*Wingnuts Weigh In, Again: A blogging astrologer has come forth with interpretations of both James Kim’s natal and death horoscopes (this despite knowing neither the time of his birth nor the day of his death; whatever, as they say in astrology circles).

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Kim Notebook

Odds and ends in the aftermath of the Kim family story. With a couple notable suggestions, the coverage has cooled off (though the Kim story seems to have made news of lost folks a hot topic in the media world right now: three climbers lost on Mount Hood (still missing); a South Carolina couple who vanished during a drive up to visit a daughter in New York (they died); and a couple of back-country dirt bikers who got confused during a weekend storm in the Sierra Nevada and had to be rescued (their ordeal included breaking into a cabin, building a fire and helping themselves to Bloody Mary fixins while they waited for the weather to improve).

The most significant new story on the Kims appeared in Sunday’s Chronicle: The paper, using some updated geographic data, reported that James Kim hiked 16 miles, not 10, during his attempt to reach help. The Kims drove about six miles further down the dead-end Bureau of Land Management road on which they became stranded than previously believed. Among other things, that means:

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Lost (2)

Some more details of the Kim family’s ordeal from newspaper accounts the last couple of days; and also a few items on the aftermath; for instance, the locals are talking a lot more about how frequently out-of-towners get lost on the complex of roads across the mountains and are talking about putting up some new warning signs or taking other measures.



Hypothermia Killed Father, Autopsy Shows

AP/Medford Mail Tribune (12/8)

… The snow was so heavy, Kim opened and leaned out a car door trying to see, (Oregon State Pollce Lt. Gregg) Hastings said.

“They got about 15 miles off Bear Camp Road before they decided to stop,” Hastings said.

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