27 April 2024 Ground Search at Soda Fork Rd

Most of my April Saturdays have been taken up with SAR training, both for this year’s Academy students and ground team training. I had my first free Saturday since the last search, and despite the weather not being ideal, I went out to Soda Fork Rd in the morning.

I had two tasks for the day. The first was to locate the limit of tree felling operations on the hillside, then head out about 1/3rd of a mile from the landing along that limit. This would establish the day’s search box. From the 27 April location my plan is to work a line along the hillside connecting back to the 31 March 2024 search box. The second task was to locate a search zone within that line for the volunteers that are coming later this month to assist.

Locating the limit of tree felling, even almost 50 years on, isn’t that difficult. I found the last row of stumps on the hillside, then followed that until my GPS told me I had gone about 1/3 of a mile from where I started at the landing. According to contemporary news accounts, Karen’s clothing and bag were found in an area of second growth timber and heavy underbrush 1/4 mile from the landing. To me this indicates that it would have been along the limit of tree felling. Now since that limit would have expanded as trees were cut, I’m starting at the final line of stumps and working in from there.

I located a bench just above a steep drop to Soda Fork Creek, dropped my pack at roughly the center of the bench, gloved up, put the knee pads on and began the day’s grid search. It was 45 and raining fairly decently, so I got drenched from the 360 degree wet of working in the undergrowth. My search technique is clearing the ground of cover until bare earth and rocks are exposed. I was able to work for about 4 hours until I lost dexterity in my hands from the cold and wet. I still managed to search about 1.75 miles within the day’s search zone.

As you can see from the track, I’m pretty thorough on the section of ground I’m working on. This is slow and meticulous work, in very difficult terrain and with less than ideal weather. As the summer approaches, I should be able to search longer on each outing, covering more ground and hopefully making a recovery.