This story begins with my wife, Helen, and I making the trip from our Forks, Washington home to Sacramento, California to spend Christmas with Helen's daughter, Gaye and her son, Jamie. It was a few days before Christmas in 1989 and we were repeating the same trip we made just one year before to spend Christmas with them except that year Helen's, Carl, who was in the army as a paratrooper joined us there. Then after Christmas he joined his mother and I and we went to Reno for a few days before going back home. This would be our plan again this year.
The day traveling through Oregon was an uneventful day as the roads were dry and clear and traffic wasn't bad because it was in the middle of the week. Even the mountain passes in southern Oregon including the Siskiyou Summit was clear, there wasn't even any snow along the side of the road.
In those days I was into CB (citizen band) radios and I enjoyed listening to the truckers talk back and forth and give highway conditions, location of the highway patrol and their general run of the mill B.S. As we were dropping off the Siskiyou Summit I recognized the radio name of a fellow from Forks who was talking to someone else and when they got through talking I called him, even though I didn't, I told him that I was from Forks too and just decided to call. I also asked him for a road report. I knew he was traveling north because of his previous conversation and he told me the roads were clear all the way, meaning there was no snow. It was dark by this time and we could see the stars in the sky as we came off the mountain pass.
Even though it was still fairly early we decided that because the weather was so nice that we would pull into Shasta City and spend the night. We had stayed in a motel there years before and thought that would be a good place because it was reasonably priced and clean. It had changed some since we were there before as they had added a two-story addition. We checked into one of them and went down town for some dinner. I also filled the gas tank before calling it a day. By 8:00 p.m. we had made it back to the motel armed with a doggie bag for the dogs. It was real cold but the sky was still crystal clear and the stars were so brilliant that it seemed you could reach out and touch them! We watched TV for a while and I took the dogs out to take care of their business before going to bed at 10:00 p.m. The sky was still clear!
At 6:00 a.m. the next morning the dogs woke me up because they had to go out again. After getting dressed I opened up the door and staring me in the face was several inches of very dry snow! I couldn't believe it! Hell, just a few hours before the sky was clear and look at it now, 4-5 inches of snow. After watering the dogs I went back in and broke the news to Helen. Not knowing this area that well I foolishly assumed that we were nearly out of the mountains, I didn't check the map. We had only been on this road a few times before and snow was never an issue so I just wasn't conscience of the fact that there were about 35 more miles to go in order to get out of the mountains. I guess my logic at the time was we were traveling south and it had to get better. I was wrong! Now, 21 years later, I would have stayed in Shasta City because I didn't even have tire chains. But back then I did things a little differently, I still felt like I could handle anything, besides I had driven in some snow during the winter most of my adult life. This shouldn't be that bad! Wrong again! By this time the snow had stopped as we pulled onto the Interstate. I honestly thought that the snow would lighten up and we would be out of it in a few miles. I was to learn pretty fast that just the opposite would be the case. It actually was pretty and not the least threatening at first, there wasn't any traffic and we seemed to have the road to ourselves. The lack of having tire chains on didn't seem to be a problem as we were doing just fine, the highway hadn't been plowed yet but the snow was dry and what the hell we would be out of this in a little while anyway. About that time a car went by us like we were standing still and I told Helen that he wouldn't be going very far. I was right, in no time we caught up to him, he was way over the bank on the right hand side of the road. I didn't stop because I thought it would be dangerous and besides he was better off where he was. We continued on and just like that visibility went to zero, apparently the snow got heavy on some trees and fell and then the wind filtered it across the freeway. I have to say I had never before felt so helpless, here we are on a strange road, driving in the snow and I can't see. But we got lucky, it was gone as soon as it hit and I could see again and I was right in the middle of the road.
This all happened within minutes of entering onto the freeway and I now started to wonder if I hadn't made a bad choice. But it was too late; there was no turning back! By this time we had traveled about seven miles when we came upon a roadblock. The highway patrol was stopping all traffic and if you didn't have chains you couldn't go on any farther. This was the end of the road for us until the weather changed or I could find some chains. The roadblock was at the exit that takes you into the town of Dunsmuir and that would be our next stop.
We passed under the freeway into Dunsmuir and found a small restaurant where we decided to have some breakfast. There were a lot of other people there too who apparently didn't have any chains either. The lady who waited on us explained to us that she and her husband owned the place and lived near by but their help got caught in the storm leaving them very short handed. I have to give them a lot of credit, they hopped around there and served people as fast as they could and the food was good. After eating we would have liked to stay in the restaurant longer but we went back to the car so more people could go in and eat.
By this time the snow started falling again and was piling up pretty fast so we started thinking we may not get out of there that day. There was a motel near by so we checked into it just in case. We was comfy in the motel but I couldn't relax, I wanted to get going and here we were watching the snow piling up. After trying to watch some TV I took the dogs out for a walk and while I was out there I heard some people talking about a gas station that was getting in a load of tire chains. That was all I needed to hear so I took the dogs back in and told Helen that I was going to try and buy some chains.
I drove to the underpass to get out of the snow so I could put the chains on. They fit like a baggy pair of pants. At least they weren't too small. I cinched them up as tight as I could but learned later that they would hit the inner fender walls as soon as I got going about 25 mph. Even if I had known then it wouldn;t have made any difference because I would have figured that's still better than sitting there, besides I won't have to have them on too long anyway. Right? Wrong!
By noon the roads had been plowed and the road was opened once again, chains required! We checked out of the motel and once again we were on our way. This time we didn't have the road to ourselves; the freeway was loaded with vehicles of all kinds. We had to drive slowly because of all of the traffic but that was okay because those oversized chains were driving us nuts. It didn't take any time at all before the traffic came to a complete stop. We were on a hill, it's still snowing hard and the traffic seemed as thick as rush hour in the city, suddenly the motel sounded like a good idea again! My thought now was that I hoped everyone had chains and could get going again once the problem up ahead was corrected. About 20 minutes later we did get going and we thought we would be out of there in no time. Once again I was wrong, we went no farther than a mile or two and traffic came to a standstill once again and this time it would be a long time before we would move again! The only good thing this time is we didn't get stopped on a hill.
Of course, at first we didn't know we were destined to sit there for a long time, it was only after I started picking up truckers on my CB radio just how serious the problem was. Even though the information I was getting was sketchy I was able to find out that a tractor-trailer rig had jack knifed crossways on an overpass and that traffic would be stranded until they could get a wrecker up there to get it pulled out of the way. I didn't know just how far ahead the accident was or what the situation was regarding getting help to removing the truck and getting traffic moving again.
I left the radio on as we sat there and at least had a little comfort having some connection to the outside world. I was also comforted by the fact that we had a full tank of gas, at least we would be able to keep warm for quite awhile. By this time it was really snowing so I would get out and keep the snow off the windshield and from the exhaust pipe. I decided I would run the engine about 15-20 minutes an hour to save on gas. We were lucky because the dogs had their blankets and the little guys generated a lot of heat and they liked to cuddle with us. Helen and I had our winter coats so we were in pretty good shape, at least for now!
The hours started to go by and the snow kept piling up and the situation stayed the same. No one on the CB had any answers. The northbound lanes didn't pass near our lanes so we didn't even know if the traffic going in the other direction was moving or not. My feeling was if it was open then help could come quicker. If the situation was any different than the one we were in you would say it was beautiful with all the snow making the big tree limbs hang toward the ground and the quiet. It was so quiet that it seemed unreal. Our concern was that there was no doubt hundreds of people stranded up here and nothing seemed to be happening to get everyone out of there. Certainly not everyone had full tanks of gas or little dogs to help keep them warm. There had to be older people with health problems, I was sure that some people would run out of gas and maybe freeze. The scenarios were unlimited!
By this time it was dark and still nothing was happening. I was still keeping the snow off the windshield and making sure the exhaust pipe was clear of snow, but now I was planning ahead and decided to kick away the snow as it fell between our car and the one in front of us, a distance of about 10-15-feet. In the hours before it got dark some people noticed my CB antenna and began to come to ask if we had any news about what was going on. I gladly passed on anything I had learned even though it wasn't much. I assured them that I would continue to monitor the radio and they could come and check whenever they wanted to.
One of these people was a young Oriental boy who was the first car behind us. He was alone in his car and his parents and two sisters were in the car right behind him. He was quite concerned because they were heading home to Los Angeles from his graduation from college in Moscow, Idaho and his parents didn't have much gas. Not only that but also neither of them had tire chains for their cars. I wondered how they got by the Highway Patrol and how many more cars might be up here without chains. I kind of thought that they may not have driven in much snow before considering where they were from so they may really be in a state of alarm. I think I kind of felt like I should give them any help that I could. I told him what I was doing and that he may do the same with their cars in regards to keeping them clear of snow. He came back to our car many for a radio update and this showed me that they were probably more concerned that we were. I guess this made me realize that I should help prepare them for getting off the mountain when the time came. Don't get me wrong, we were concerned but as I mentioned earlier we were in pretty good shape regarding gas and keeping warm.
Time passed slowly and the snow still was still coming down and by midnight there was over 18 inches of snow on top of the car. I left the snow on top for better traction for later when we would finally get going. In the mean time the radio was still on and I was starting to hear stories from the truckers, like one trucker took a woman and her two small children in his truck when they ran out of gas and could no longer keep warm. Another situation was an older man was having a heart attack. I don't know what ever happened there. There were more but I don't recall any more. At one point there was word that the Search and Rescue from Redding was going to get lunches and bring them in on snowmobiles. That never happened!
Sleep was nearly out of the question but we did get in short naps, and at 4:00 a.m. the noise of a snowplow woke up anyone who may have been sleeping. Sure enough a snowplow was clearing a path on the shoulder of the inside lane. I'm sure this got everyone pretty excited; I know it did us! A lot of people were out doing their final clearing of their path, just like we were, so they would be able to move when the time finally came. By this time I had 22 inches of snow on top of the car.
I got together with the young fellow behind me and told him to pay attention to my instructions. You have to realize that once we started moving that I would have to plow through or go around piles of snow and/or vehicles. The sloppy oversized tire chains were now a blessing. We were in the outside lane and I would have to find a path to the plowed roadside. When the time came and I started to move he and his dad were to get going and stay close to me and not stop because if they did they may not get going again. I also told him that when we finally did get around the stalled cars and piles of snow onto the freshly plowed road that they would probably would be okay. The boy said they would do what I said but his dad was dangerously low on gas and they could only hope that they could get out of the snow before he ran out of gas.
We 't know when the traffic would begin to move or how but I figured we would play it by ear and follow whatever lead came up. At 4:30, about 15 hours after being stopped we were moving once again. The snow had stopped and visibility was good and it was a good thing too because there were many cars that couldn't get going, either running out of gas or because there was too much snow piled up in front of their car. I was sure glad I decided to keep our area clean; it paid off!
As I started to move I realized I wouldn't necessarily be following the car in front of me because one stalled car changes the rules. Almost immediately cars were driving around stranded vehicles for the shortest path to the plowed roadside. I paved a way for us to get to the plowed roadside the two cars behind me stayed close as I told them to. Once we got to the plowed roadside we picked up speed and the tire chains just howled, it was music to my ears, we were moving once again. The concern now would be if the boy's parent's car would have enough gas to get out of the snow area. There was no shoulder to pull over onto so that would cause another problem should he run out of gas.
I don't know how far we traveled, but at some point we came to the overpass with the semi still cross ways blocking the freeway. To get around it the traffic took the exit before the overpass and continued right onto the exit on the other side. Immediately I'm wondering if it took someone that many hours to figure this mess out or was there another accident that wasn't on the overpass that was the culprit and had to be removed first. We never found out, but it didn't matter we were on the move again!
During breakfast we got to know the boys family a little bit because through all of the day and night before we had not met his family. It turned out that the father was a dentist in Los Angeles and that they were returning from their son's graduation. This much we already knew! Apparently the boy was to start work at Disneyland after Christmas and they tried their best to get us come to L.A. after Christmas and stay with them and their son would get us all the passes we needed to go to Disneyland. We used the dogs as an excuse but they assured us that the dogs were welcome too. However, to make them feel better we exchanged addresses in case we changed our mind later. It was obvious they were grateful for our help. We finished our breakfast and we continued on to Sacramento, one day late!
We never made it to Disneyland; we stayed with the original plan and went to Reno instead. I still haven't been to Disneyland and I may never make it there but I will always remember the 24 hours it took us to get from Shasta City to Redding, a distance of 55 miles.
Written by William Wandke on 1/18/2001 Thank you for visiting our website. Please come back and visit again!