Beware Bear Camp Road

A sign on the Josephine County side of Bear Camp Road offers sound advise to motorists. Photo submitted by the U.S. Forest Service.

Sheriff John Bishop says two rescue calls to his office within 24 hours last week show why Bear Camp Road, which goes over the Siskiyou Mountains from Agness to Galice, should be closed during the winter months.

“I have asked the Forest Service to shut the gate for a myriad of reasons,” said Bishop, whose search and rescue teams rescued a couple from Alabama Thursday and two young men from Coos County on Friday night. Sheriff’s officers said that one of the two men on Friday likely would not have made it until morning had they not been found.

“We’ve had several fatalities up there,” Bishop said.

The road is the same one that claimed the life of a man who went looking for help after his family’s car got stuck in snow in November 2006.

Patty C. Burel, public affairs officer of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, said the Forest Service advises people not to travel that way. There are major signs warning them they should not travel the 32-mile road partially on Forest Service land and partially on BLM land in the winter.

“It’s heavily used in the summer and accessed in the winter by people wanting winter recreational programs,” Burel said.

Burel said there are six major signs that were installed in the summer of 2008 warning motorists to stay off the road – two from the west and four from the east.

“The signs carry a double triangle. There’s also a kiosk installed on the other side, not the Gold Beach side, to notify people before they go up there. There are route markers every mile telling people they are traveling on Bear Camp Road. The Forest Service and BLM both indicate traveling over Bear Camp is not advisable in winter,” Burel said.

“We advise people not to travel that way. It’s not a road that’s plowed. We’ll have people say to us they’ll take a different route, then have people say they have a four-wheel drive and take that route,” she said.

Bishop said each search and rescue incident is expensive.

“It’s a four-hour deal. It’s close to $1,000. If it goes overnight and for several days, it could get quite expensive,” the sheriff said. “I’m talking about equipment, man hours. That’s probably two men and equipment. The rest are volunteers.”

He said that is one issue he has with search and rescue.

“I’m trying to get as much equipment as we can to do those rescues. We have two snowmobiles to help us, but if the snow is too wet, they don’t help us. We have to do it on foot or get a snowcat from other counties.”

Last Thursday, Charles Hill, 53, and Karen Hill, 48, of Florence, Ala., had driven a two-wheel drive Ford F-250 on the road, Sheriff’s Capt. Bob Rector said. Their pickup got stuck in snow after their GPS navigational device instructed them to take the Bear Camp Road to get from Highway 101 to I-5.

Both Josephine County and Curry County rescue teams took off after receiving a broken cell phone call from the couple.

Other people have reported that online maps direct them to take the same route and some report that paper maps show the same route without any warning.

Bishop said that the GPS program is put in all navigational systems.

“It shows this road is a road that connects the I-5 corridor to 101,” Bishop said.

“They put a broad disclaimer on it. It’s up to you to check whether the road is viable,” Bishop said. “A lot of trucks are using the system driving on roads with bridges not built to handle the trucks. The navigational things are great, but you have to be aware of your surroundings.”

Curry County Commissioner Georgia Nowlin said she wanted to talk with Bishop about contacting the companies who put out the GPS systems.

“They need to let consumers know the messages are not correct,” she said.

And Nowlin said she would like to hold a commissioners’ work session with Forest Service officials and the sheriff.

“I would like to have the Forest Service sit down and see if we can’t work something out,” she said.

Burel says people should get proper maps before they travel – “meaning paper maps.

“You can get stuck or lost no matter what kind of vehicle you have. We encourage people to talk to our offices and get paper maps before they go, ask questions about where they are headed.”

Burel said she understood that state road maps showing the road open year-round are being upgraded.

In the 2006 incident, authorities found the body of 35-year-old James Kim of San Francisco, the victim of exposure and hypothermia, who left his family in their stranded car in search of help. The Kim family became lost Nov. 25 after missing an I-5 turnoff and attempting to get to Gold Beach through Bear Camp Road.

His wife and two daughters were rescued near their vehicle off Bear Camp Road Dec. 4, only days after James Kim went for help.

 Authorities believe he was trying to reach the Rogue. His body was found a half mile from the river after he walked more than 10 miles in the frigid wilderness near the Curry-Josephine county line.

“When Kim happened, people contacted Mapquest and other online maps,” Burel said.

“We have never advised people to travel that in the winter time. The actual signs that people pass have dates on them, not advised in these months,” she said.

Burel said Bear Camp Road is not closed or gated in the winter because it provides for winter recreational activities and there are people who use the road and are prepared for the snow.

She said the Forest Service has made the signs more clear.

“The original couple from Alabama passed signage but didn’t bother to look at the signs,” Burel said. “We don’t recommend even if people on four-wheel drives to head up there. But Search and Rescue went up on snowmobiles. That’s the kind of recreation up there, people prepared to use snowmobiles.”

Burel said the road is a single lane, sometimes wandering, gravel road.

“They are not plowed for winter travel. That’s true for almost all forest roads,” she said.

In the Friday night rescue, Rector said the sheriff’s office received a 911 call transferred from Coos County. The caller, Tina Murch from Coquille, reported that she’d received a text message from her son that he and his friend were stuck in the snow on a road about 20 miles from the Agness area. A voice signal would not get through.

Coos County contacted the mother for additional information and it was learned that 23-year-old Keith Sjogren from Coquille and 24-year-old Brian Simones from North Bend had gone elk hunting and traveled to Gold Beach, then to Agness where they turned onto a road to travel to Grants Pass.

Lt. John Ward of Curry County Sheriff’s Office initiated and maintained text communication with Sjogren and was able to determine that it was likely that the men were on the Bear Camp Road.

Josephine County Search and Rescue was contacted and the two rescue groups went forward from opposite directions, with four-wheel drives and snowmobiles.

Curry County SAR personnel found the two men about 15 miles up Bear Camp Road from Agness. The last 10 miles of the route was covered with snow drifts reaching about 3 feet deep, and there was constant heavy snowfall, Rector said.  

Sjogren and Simones were found in their vehicle, crossways in the road with the front end buried in the ditch. They were located at about 8:55 p.m., approximately 3 1/2 hours after the original 911 call.

“They were both wet and cold, wearing light clothes and tennis shoes,” Rector said. “They had no provisions to keep themselves warm, no fire starting items, no food, the heater did not work in their truck and the window was broken. They were very uncomfortable and showed signs of hypothermia. Rescue personnel provided dry coats and stocking caps to help them get warm.”

The two were taken out and later refused medical assistance, Rector said. Rescuers also helped them free and recover their vehicle.

“For the second time in two nights portable communications devices operating from remote locations with very weak signal capacity managed to still send a message for help,” Rector said.

“Additionally, like the travelers the previous night, the men had not informed anyone of their intended travel plans, had little or no emergency provisions or gear, and had made no apparent preparations for dealing with the possibility of becoming stranded. In this particular rescue, rescuers are of the opinion that at least one of the two would probably not have survived the night had SAR personnel not rescued them.”

Burel said anyone traveling on a Forest Service road should prepare.

“Let people know where you’re traveling before you go,” she said. “Take shovels, blankets, extra food, extra water, good snow tires. Fuel up before you leave.”

Bishop also said motorists should be prepared.

“If it’s getting dark and it’s a narrow backwoods road and it’s starting to snow heavily, you might want to think twice. Most of the main roads are maintained, a lot of the Forest Service roads aren’t maintained in the winter,” Bishop said.

“You’re traveling over the 5,000 foot level. We’ll do what we can, working with the Forest Service, but it’s the Forest Service that decides when the gates close,” Bishop said.

“If you get stuck, we’ll come,” he said.