Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The GOP Leadership

This sums up the last year or two pretty well for me.  I am still waiting for an actual leader with actual principles and actual intelligence to step up to the plate in Washington DC.  In the meantime, we'll continue to suffer at the likes of Obama and Boehner who appear to have neither intelligence nor principles.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Lost Mt Rainier Showshoer Burned Money for Warmth

Great story!  The will to survive is more important than anything you can take into the outdoors.  However, this is a good lesson to be prepared for unexpected circumstances when straying off the beaten path.


Published January 17, 2012 | Associated Press

A snowshoer who was lost in a blizzard for two days on Washington state's Mount Rainier said he stayed alive by digging out a snow tunnel and burning his paper money for warmth.

Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma, told KOMO-TV of Seattle that he had fire starters with him and first burned some leaves. Then he started burning personal items: his socks and then $1 and $5 bills from his wallet.

Kim also said he marched in place to keep warm and took cover in a tree well --the hole in the snow under a tree. He fought off sleep but dreamed of his wife and a nice hot sauna.

"I found a big tree and got inside" the well, he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I'm worried. It's cold, so I want to move around."

He initially made a shelter near a big rock and tried to stay warm. He tried to keep walking, but at times "the snow was so deep, I couldn't breathe."

He made a fire, drank hot water and ate rice.

The first night was bad, said Kim's stepson, Malcolm An. "He could have died. He was walking around, struggling to find a place, literally not knowing where to go.

"He burned everything he had," An said. "He burned his toothpaste, Band-Aids, extra socks. He burned whatever he could."

Kim was leading 16 members of a hiking and climbing club from Tacoma on Saturday when he slid down a slope and became separated. He thought he would meet up with the group farther down the trail but became disoriented and went the wrong way.

(read the rest of the article here: FoxNews Story)