Thirst probably wasn't a big issue. He had a source of warmth (at least so long as his auto gas held out), so he could probably contrive a means to melt snow. Nothing wrong with eating snow, either, except that it tends to chill one. But again, he had a means of rewarming with his car heater. And snow in the Oregon Cascades tends to have a high water content (though not always on the East side where he was). This means one usually doesn't need to melt or eat as much to stay hydrated.

LOL


Yes! Carbon monoxide is a very serious hazard when running a car engine for heat, when the car is parked in a blizzard. If you ever need to do that, you absolutely must get out periodically to make sure the tailpipe isn't getting buried in such a way that CO will get into the car!