Agreed on waiting to activate the PLB, as long as you're equipped to wait it out. Again, my impulse is to stay in place at or near my vehicle, or at or near a place of civilization is its nearby - but in overthinking mode, if you had to cross a river, having a PFD and a rock helmet in the trunk of your car would be small and reasonable equipment with which to attempt what is surely a life-threatening Western river crossing. You can actually participate in some white water rescue training, I did this on the Snoqualmie 30 years ago, basic advice though is lean back, don't try to keep your head above water, and swim like hell at 90 degrees to the current when you hit a break in any rapids. It can be incredibly tough, and you may not make it alone. Weigh your options carefully. Your odds of making it out of the water go way down without a PFD and helmet. Its such a remote possibility, I honestly wouldn't put mine in the trunk for a road trip in this or other remote areas, but in terms of space requirements, its alot less than hauling a boat...

Two other obvious observations - drive as far as you can in the direction you want to go - if you hit an obstruction, you have fuel and you can drive in the opposite direction to see how far you can go there too, then return to the first obstruction if you want to go further in that direction. If you hit an avalanche, you need to assess for stability and further avalanches before crossing. Take your time, make sure, rather than getting buried and trapped in after fall. And I know from experience, crossing an avalanche area with your bike can be an ordeal, so you might lose your transportation if you cross.

Okay, so I thought you were in the wrong COUNTRY!

Actually, your route would be easier than ID/WA. Two hundred miles would probably be doable. The pioneers went 1800 miles, mostly on foot.

Take the same gear you would use for a long hike, with extra socks. That extra pair of boots that was suggested would be good, too. Lots of firemaking stuff, a lot of water purifier tablets or a good-sized pot, a good waterproof poncho and a hat (an attached hood obscures your vision at a bad time). A tarp for shelter, you're going to need some quality rest where you can stretch out.

Stick to the main road whenever possible. That's where the (few) people are, and the road is easier to find if you need to call for help.

Take it easy! The early settlers traveled by oxcart, at two mph (3.2 kph). Perseverance over speed. Stop and rest enough. Stop at the small towns and chat. Be willing to lend a hand along the way. Someone may be driving your way and be willing to take a passenger.

Just remember that if your family is at home, what has happened has happened. They have probably dragged the necessary stuff out of the house (if affected) and are living on your stored food. Killing yourself to get there won't help anything.

Sue

I continue to re-read the thread because it's an interesting challenge. I've planned to hike 40 miles but not 200.
I've only lately hiked as much as 14 miles in a day so I have a little sense of what it might take.

For Susan - note that the *survivors* of those ox trains moved so far and so fast. The non-survivors didn't. There were many non-survivors for various reasons.
The travelling parties also had the benefit of numbers and tools and skills and pre-planning (sometimes poorly) for the journey. They could hunt to supplement food and they chose their travelling season.

Teslinhiker- how many in your party? What ages/condition?
Your 2nd posting suggested that the real question was "how would you hike 200 miles?"

Was that the real question? Or was it more specific such as- 200 miles along the Fraser River from x to y in all seasons while accomodating a 3 and a 5 year old child without use of firearms for subsistence hunting? (or something like that)

I also have been intrigued by this thread and re-read it. So, first of all, thank you for sharing this interesting challenge.

I think Sue has made a key point about the likely speed of travel and the mindset for such a trek. This is more a slow migration, meander thing than a sprint, summit-fever stampede.

To me this raises two areas of concern: first, you are going to have a lot of living to do along the way, and second, endurance and finishing are the primary goals.

You should consider what makes living worthwhile, even fun, for your family and prepare to meet those wants and needs. I imagine many opportunities to teach life lessons to any children; maybe each child will need a lesson plan to consider most days along the way. Morale will be a big deal: a few presents /suprises, especially if a birthday or holiday or two can be anticipated to occur.

Add some stuff aimed at ensuring endurance. Mechanically, spares crucial to walking come to mind; repair tools and supplies for such things make sense. Psychologically, as a leader you may want to set the tone that you are going to get home, it is going to take a while, and needing to relax and take it day by day. Rest days, regularly and whenever butts are dragging, as well as celebrations are going to make sense. Perhaps your spouse could be morale officer.

You are going to want alternate route information for both sides of the river. Hopefully, and I would expect, most of the journey will be boring slogs along intact road or railroad. At each point where that is impossible due to earthquake damage, you want to find a safe way around even if it means backtracking a bit. Plan to make the kids to complain about being bored and tired, not scared.

If not taking the on-the-water option, then the biggest problem would seem to be spots where you must cross the river to get to the road and railroad. In such places, I would take a very hard look at staying on your side of the river instead, even if it means slower going.

Thanks for all the replies. There has certainly been a varied response and makes for interesting reading on every person's perspective.

I'll see if I can answer some of the questions and address some of the comments directly later.

I would like to clarify a couple of general points though. This thought exercise is just that...This scenario is not something I would ever really envisioning to occur yet it gives me something to think about when we drive up that route. Walking 200 hundred miles after any disaster is not going to be anything close to easy and I used this upcoming trip to highlight a very worse case scenario where there is a major obstacle (river and possible tunnel collapse) in your path from getting home.

If this scenario ever played out for real, I know that attempting a 200 mile walk home is not in the cards, we would stay put and seek shelter/help in the nearest town or village. In fact, I would be quite content to stay there as the area is actually quite different then most here envision a canyon highway route and as I mentioned last night or earlier today that I will post some pictures after the drive up.

There a couple of airstrips that I know of. These are of the dirt/field strips where only a small Cessna type plane could comfortably land/take off from. Flying through the canyon proper is an unbelievable experience for the eyes and as I noted earlier, this area is also very wide open and not all that high so most small planes would have no problem.

I agree, this whole area is criss crossed with old logging roads etc and Google Earth is very good tool. Not a week goes by that I don't use it to "explore" new areas.



Again I agree. The kit already in the car trunk makes an unexpected stay much easier. We always have shelter, clothing, food and water. With these needs met, there is not a lot more to really worry about when it is time to stay put and hunker down until help arrives and or conditions improve.

Of course. Non-survivors of various other endeavors didn't move so fast, either. But the people walked with the oxen, and the speed of walking oxen is about 2 mph, mules were a little faster, esp if they wanted to wear them out.

But the biggest killer of the pioneers on the OR/CA trail was disease: cholera (mainly), small pox, the flu, measles, mumps and tuberculosis, caused by having to drink from the water sources contaminated by the travelers ahead. After that was accidents.

Sue

I agree, it is very doable. Using this scenario as an example but without the bridge and tunnel issue, I would not hesitate to start walking if we had to. There is plenty of water available, food may be an issue after about 4-5 few days though..


Cellphone coverage is non-existent. CBC radio is sporadically available in a few spots though.


Not really a problem for lights this time of year. You live further north then I and know how much daylight we enjoy this time of year. Right now it is not getting fully dark until almost 10:00 pm and daylight breaks around 4:30 - 5:00 am. Winter is a whole different story..


I think one of the towns has a pub or two...good idea!

And there is always the chance that you are closer to home than farther. Two hundred miles is a long way, but if you were three-quarters of the way there when disaster struck...

Always caught between Mother Nature and Mr. Murphy.

Sue