Welcome back to Thebeerchaser.  If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and the video at the end of the post and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.  (External photo attribution # at the end of the post.)

Note:  One of the primary topics of this blog is reviews of bars and breweries.  Although I’ve frequently wondered from that during the pandemic and in the last few months with a residential move, I’ve got a number of great bars to catch up on at the first of the year – The Wildwood Saloon, Von Ebert Brewery, Old Town Pizza and Grand Fir Brewery.   Stay tuned.

Sixty-three years ago on January 2nd.  That’s when my dad – FDW as we affectionately called him – and I started an unexpected nine-hour wilderness trek at 5:10 in the afternoon in the snowy Mt. Hood National Forest.

The newspaper account by one Vera Luby Criteser in the Oregon City Enterprise Courier is shown below, but first a little background. (The paper stopped publishing in 1990.)

In previous posts, I’ve mentioned that both of my parents – FDW and Frannie our mom, were saints.  They demonstrated love for their kids, patience and faith continually, as well as having the courage to take bold steps while we were growing up to improve our lives. – including a move across the country without FDW having a job in Oregon, our new home.

This couple, who met in 1942 while both were working for American Airlines in New York City, married the next year.  They were role models for parenting (and living) for my siblings and me.

I’m named after my Dad’s best friend and SAE fraternity brother at George Washington University (Don Wilburn) – a US Army aviator, who was killed while piloting a military flight.

In, several blog posts I’ve chronicled FDW’s traits – focusing on his willingness to take risks and his affinity for the “Spirit of High Adventure” – especially after we moved to Oregon from Ohio in 1960.  https://thebeerchaser.com/2021/10/21/fdw-beerchaser-of-the-quarter-part-i/

I’ve retyped the newspaper article dated 1/17/61 – about two weeks after we safely returned from the trip.  The group below participated in the adventure (except for our dog, Candy and our cat, Buffy).  We were fortunate, given the circumstances and the weather, and learned a few lessons that stood us in good stead for many future wilderness adventures.  

It should be noted that along with the six of us on that trip was a new friend I had met in my seventh grade class.  Ellwood Cushman joined us (I’m sure to his parents’ dismay when he failed to return home until the next morning).  

Ellwood went on to become 1966 valedictorian at Oregon City High School, graduate from University of Oregon and have an outstanding career in law enforcement, becoming a police lieutenant for the City of Eugene before retiring. (#1 – #2)

From the Oregon City Enterprise Courier January 17, 1961

“What Would You Have Done?”

“The Duane Williams family, newcomers to Oregon City, had an experience the day after New Year’s they would not care to repeat but which has not affected their enthusiasm for a future trips to the mountains.  If they had panicked, something tragic could have happened.

As you remember, the day was still and clear and a holiday, a wonderful opportunity to drive up to the snow country and frolic.  Williams decided to take the Clackamas River Road above the city of Estacada and the Estacada Ranger Station and come to snow in the upper reaches. 

He told his wife, Fran, to put in a change of clothes for the children so they wouldn’t have to ride back with wet feet and legs. (#3- #5)

The children are daughter, Lynne, 14; Donald, 12; Garry, 10, Ricky, 8 and a friend, Ellwood Cushman, Don’s new friend, who went along.

Williams, himself, since he was caught in a big blizzard and deep snow in New York City  in 1948, always kept snow-boots, extra mittens and a sterno-stove in their car although he had never needed them since that time until this day.

They drove out before noon, planning to be home by 6 PM – 7 at the latest. The trip up the river was not new them because they had hiked into Bagby Hot Springs with the Harry Gehrings and Ed Millers.  They were thrilled with the big trees, primitive nature and the mountain air with room to stretch their legs.

The road was good Monday, January 2 and the VW bus performed excellently. 

They passed the Colowash River Road Junction and Austin Hot Springs and sped on through the light snowfall to find a deep covering where the children could play. (#6)

They decided to stay just until 4 PM and start home.  Seventeen miles above Austin Hot Springs they stopped – a big tree lay across the road. (#7)

Someone ahead of them had also been stopped and turned and the track was plain so Williams swung the car around in tracks but somehow swung too wide and hit a soft shoulder.  The car slipped and with each try to pull it out, it slipped farther.  No amount of pushing and throwing rocks and limbs did any good. 

They worked over an hour and finally gave up.  The car was lodged at a 45 degree angle and seemingly safe from further slippage.  By this time it was 5:10 and the map in the car showed the nearest assistance would be at Ripplebrook Ranger Station as they learned later, well over 20 miles away.  

Williams and Donald left the others in the car, unheated because at the angle it was sitting, no gas could reach the carburetor to start the engine.  He took one of the flashlights and began their hike for help. (#8)

The moon came up – full and brought out their diamond-studded path, almost as bright as day.  The miles stretched longer and longer as they tramped back. Donald had hiked as a Scout and needed another 10-mile hike to earn his merit badge.  He earned it well that night. 

At first, when they became tired, they sat to rest, but when Williams began to get stiff, they leaned against trees for a few breaths.

Finally about 2:15 AM, they came to Colowash Junction and saw a piece of road equipment sitting by the way.  Williams decided to risk using government equipment to save their lives.   Hunting around the cab, they found the key although nothing was marked, so it took some time see where it fitted and some experimenting to which levers worked.

At last it roared like a plane and began to move.   He maneuvered it around and headed back down the road.

Eight miles farther on they saw the welcome Ripplebrook Station, which was closed, but they saw a light burning in the Ranger’s house about a half-mile above.  So they took to their feet again. 

A few pounds on the door brought out the Ranger and his wife followed.  Donald was soon bedded down on a couch and Williams headed back with thermos bottles of coffee and cocoa and the rangers were speeding back to the car. 

Frances in the meantime had her hands full with four cold, hungry children.  If the hours went slowly on the long hike, time crawled in the stalled car. 

They sang, played guessing games, the younger ones huddled together and napped – hard to do at such an angle.  When they became too cold, she lighted the sterno-stove for the psychological effect of something burning.

Williams gives his wife most of the credit for the safety of the group. Two years ago, they drove to Oregon from Cincinnati, Ohio to look over the West with the idea of locating here and camped along the way. 

The experience came in handy last summer when Frances, a New York City girl and the children moved to Oregon alone with a trailer on the back of their car – camping along the way. 

Duane had come to Oregon first and couldn’t return with them for the drive West.  The family had experience with hazards the year before when they were caught in the great Yellowstone Park Earthquake of 1959.

Williams has one piece of advice to people who go up to the mountain – get maps from the rangers to show the country in detail – they can be vital.” (#9)

A Few Observations After Years of Additional Perspective

As mentioned in the article, the real hero during this escapade was Frannie.  This New York City gal – new to the West – wondering whether there were bears and wildlife outside the car when they had to go to the bathroom (There were!) and how long, and if, the two rescue hikers would make it back as well as keeping up the sprits of four young kids in a cold vehicle for almost eleven hours, showed incredible courage.

At first, I was thrilled with the excitement and being the oldest son – the one to hike out for help – but after six hours, the novelty wore off.  We had walked about six hours and at an 11 PM rest with Dad starting to stiffen up (he was not in great shape for a 21-mile trek) he said to me:

 “Don, if I can’t finish this hike to Ripplebrook, you are going to have to do it and I know that you can.”

Right after we resumed walking on that clear night, one of the brightest meteors I’ve ever seen, flew overhead.  I don’t remember if I thought that this was a divine sign, but it re-energized me physically and mentally. (#10)

The Time in the Car

My brother, Garry, passed away in 1989, but in the last three days, I’ve talked to Lynne, Rick and Ellwood about their memories of the eleven hours in the car before rescue.

Ellwood said that he was not scared and alluded to Frannie’s confident spirit that all would be okay.  He remembered it being cold and them ripping up the rather flimsy seat covers to provide warmth as a covering.  (Since we remained friends, his parents evidently didn’t forbid him to see the kid who got him into the mess.)

Rick (age 8) reiterated not being scared:

“Because Mom said everything would be fine. She lit the Sterno-stove and said it would warm us up and even though now I know that it couldn’t, it seemed like it did.”

Lynne, at 12, as the oldest child left in the car, said that although she was not frightened, she became very concerned especially after the hours continued to drag and no one had come.  

“I don’t know how Frannie did it.  We sang songs including ’99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall’ many times, played guessing games and when we had to go out, she was right there with us, reassuring us.

When I saw the bright light from the Ranger’s truck through the thick ice that had formed on the back window of the VW, I thought it was the angels coming to get us because it was too late!”

Now whether Lynne assisting in managing the other kids that night, helped her when she became a very successful teacher and school principal or Garry to develop the patience and discipline he needed to graduate from West Point, we don’t know.

But I’m sure it helped them in some ways just like being confined in that cold-tight space  helped Rick when he commanded a 20,000-foot record deep submergence vehicle dive in  1985 and surfaced up through the ice at the North Pole when he was the skipper of the nuclear submarine USS Spadefish (SSN 668).  (https://thebeerchaser.com/2023/07/06/dirt-and-dust/)

The Advantage of Lessons Learned

FDW was a very smart guy and realized the trip could have ended tragically and he learned from those mistakes.  From that day forward, he had survival supplies from clothes and energy snacks to flares to two sleeping bags and a GI shovel in the ample storage compartment of the FDW-VW. 

He had an extensive sales territory in Eastern Oregon and it came in handy when I went with him in the summer after my senior year in high school and  traveled over a Forest Service road in the Mount Emily Wilderness in Union County.

He had a sales call in John Day and we decided to take a roundabout way to get to Pendleton – part of which would be a gravel unimproved road that would take us by the summit of Mount Emily.  We had a good Forest Service Map but late in the afternoon came to an unmarked junction and decided to take what looked like the more improved road.

After about a half-mile, we went down a steep grade and saw bulldozers and road construction equipment, but there was no room to turn around and the grade was too steep for the approximately 70 horsepower bus to back up.  

So we put the seats down, had a snack, broke out two sleeping bags and slept soundly that night.  I still remember being “rudely awakened” about 6:15 the next morning by a loud knocking on my window.  I rolled over, looked up and saw a guy with a hardhat smoking a cigar who shouted, “How in the hell, did you guys get down here?”  (#11 – #12)

He pulled us up the grade backward with his bulldozer and we were on our merry way to a good breakfast in Pendleton commenting about how nice it was nice not to have to walk out this time.  It would have been a lot longer than 21 miles!

Well, the Clackamas River Trip was a definite bonding experience which we talked about at family gatherings for years to come.

Cheers and Happy New Year

External Photo Attribution

#1. Pioneer Log – Junior High Yearbook – Thora B. Gardiner Jr. High.

#2.  The Hesperian – 1966 Oregon City High School Yearbook.

#3.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clackamas_Wild_and_Scenic_River_(27727585360).jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington – 14 October 2005. This image is a work of a Bureau of Land Management* employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain in the United States.

#4.  Estacada News (https://www.estacadanews.com/news/clackamas-river-ranger-district-office-will-move-from-estacada/article_ce8cf036-75a9-5485-a32c-3d958f9a0cd3.html

#5.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clackamas_Wild_and_Scenic_River_(27905348422).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  This image is a work of a Bureau of Land Management* employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain in the United States.

#6.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Olympic National Forest – November 2017 – 4.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  This image is a work of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.  Author: https://twitter.com/olympicforest/status/928396680512225281 – 8 November 2017

#7.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fallen_tree_blocking_forest_road_on_Main_Rig_near_Mollin_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4058392.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.  Author: https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/27184  5 July 2014.

#8.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Kochstelle mit Gamelle.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.
I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.  Author:  TheBernFiles  – 27 October 2005.

#9. (https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MEDIA/stelprdb5192432.jpg)

#10.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonid_Meteor.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  Navicore 17 November, 2009.

#11. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mt_emily_wilderness_4_reesman_odfw_(14997983254).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.  Author:  Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife – 27 September 2011.

#12.  Image courtesy of Pam Williams.