I'm only saying that I doubt the weather caused his death. He certainly could have perished in a no pull jump and drowned. However I'm not convinced that's the ONLY way the $5800 ended up at Tina Bar.

To any outdoorsman familiar with the area, there is no reason to believe he perished because of the weather. Perhaps I'm the only one to believe it but the weather wasn't all that bad. No snow, no ice storm and no violent winds. Like I said before, I've delivered mail in far worse weather than that night in my 28 years of carrying mail in the Portland area ! I always wore wool socks and wool underwear and I never was cold when hunting in extreme cold. I'm sure many don't believe but I have stories and photos to prove my point ! As far as how the Money ended up at Tina Bar, that's anyone's guess! I'm only giving my opinion as to could he survive.

You asked about the placard find. Here from my notes:

found by two hunters hiking on Silver Lake in November 1978, hunting on land owned by the Smith family. (Kaye will contact the family and get gps). One of the hunters is Carroll Hicks of Kelso who died in 1999 at Kelso, Wa.  This is off a Weyerhaueser Company logging road north of Ariel. Second hunter name unknown at present. These guys have hunted this area with others for years and are well known. (source to family is VH at Vancouver who also hunts this area and knew the men...) 

Kermit this should lead you to the men and the placard site although it is ancient history today. Hicks and his wife had family at Kelso.

article attached ... source unknown.

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To any outdoorsman familiar with the area, there is no reason to believe he perished because of the weather. Perhaps I'm the only one to believe it but the weather wasn't all that bad. No snow, no ice storm and no violent winds. Like I said before, I've delivered mail in far worse weather than that night in my 28 years of carrying mail in the Portland area ! I always wore wool socks and wool underwear and I never was cold when hunting in extreme cold. I'm sure many don't believe but I have stories and photos to prove my point ! As far as how the Money ended up at Tina Bar, that's anyone's guess! I'm only giving my opinion as to could he survive.

You asked about the placard find. Here from my notes:

found by two hunters hiking on Silver Lake in November 1978, hunting on land owned by the Smith family. (Kaye will contact the family and get gps). One of the hunters is Carroll Hicks of Kelso who died in 1999 at Kelso, Wa.  This is off a Weyerhaueser Company logging road north of Ariel. Second hunter name unknown at present. These guys have hunted this area with others for years and are well known. (source to family is VH at Vancouver who also hunts this area and knew the men...) 

Kermit this should lead you to the men and the placard site although it is ancient history today. Hicks and his wife had family at Kelso.

article attached ... source unknown.

The GPS coordinates should already be on Tom's web page.  I used those coordinates in the placard drift analysis.  Tom provided the coordinates to me, and they may have already been on the page, but they should certainly have been there after the analysis.   

they arent. never were so far as I know. why dont you give them to us?    Tom has revised his website from its original content, in any event. Those gps coordinates are proprietary for Tom ? 

The inescapable conclusion, since nothing else has surfaced to change it, is that the FBI flight path is correct and Cooper bailed somewhere near Ariel, survived, and walked with the money south - some of which surfaces at Tena Bar on the Columbia near Vancouver. Maybe he had a hot date waiting with a crew member on a Russian submarine waiting ... 

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To any outdoorsman familiar with the area, there is no reason to believe he perished because of the weather. Perhaps I'm the only one to believe it but the weather wasn't all that bad. No snow, no ice storm and no violent winds. Like I said before, I've delivered mail in far worse weather than that night in my 28 years of carrying mail in the Portland area ! I always wore wool socks and wool underwear and I never was cold when hunting in extreme cold. I'm sure many don't believe but I have stories and photos to prove my point ! As far as how the Money ended up at Tina Bar, that's anyone's guess! I'm only giving my opinion as to could he survive.

You asked about the placard find. Here from my notes:

found by two hunters hiking on Silver Lake in November 1978, hunting on land owned by the Smith family. (Kaye will contact the family and get gps). One of the hunters is Carroll Hicks of Kelso who died in 1999 at Kelso, Wa.  This is off a Weyerhaueser Company logging road north of Ariel. Second hunter name unknown at present. These guys have hunted this area with others for years and are well known. (source to family is VH at Vancouver who also hunts this area and knew the men...) 

Kermit this should lead you to the men and the placard site although it is ancient history today. Hicks and his wife had family at Kelso.

article attached ... source unknown.

The GPS coordinates should already be on Tom's web page.  I used those coordinates in the placard drift analysis.  Tom provided the coordinates to me, and they may have already been on the page, but they should certainly have been there after the analysis.   

they arent. never were so far as I know. why dont you give them to us?    Tom has revised his website from its original content, in any event. Those gps coordinates are proprietary for Tom ? 

The inescapable conclusion, since nothing else has surfaced to change it, is that the FBI flight path is correct and Cooper bailed somewhere near Ariel, survived, and walked with the money south - some of which surfaces at Tena Bar on the Columbia near Vancouver. Maybe he had a hot date waiting with a crew member on a Russian submarine waiting ...

Try the following:

46 degrees, 14 minutes, 35.4 seconds North Latitude.

122 degrees, 41 minutes, 1.0 seconds West Longitude.

Elevation was about 1500 feet Above Sea Level.

Thanks R99 - there you go Kermit. 

Thanks guys. I'm presently at the Oregon coast but I'm very interested in visiting the site where the placard was found. My friend who now lives in Kelso used to work at Weyerhaeuser as a diesel mechanic and he knew ever back country road as that was his job to go out in field and repair the trucks when they broke down. You wouldn't believe how close he took me to Mt St Helens the day after it blew. It was a back Weyerhaeuser road that nobody but loggers knew about. I'm hoping he knows the hunters as he's lived in area all his life. I'm kinda into exploring stuff for myself ! Fun outing one way or the other.

I am betting you can find people who knew Carroll Hicks and his hunting partner. I have been told they were regulars and very well known. Isn't there a bar near there where guys gathered? One of my cousins who hunted that area has talked about it, although he didn't know Hicks personally he knew of him. Maybe look for that Smith family that owned the land where they hunted? I am sure something will connect ... hopefully without too much effort. And please share back whatever you find! 

Take some photos if you can! 

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Thanks guys. I'm presently at the Oregon coast but I'm very interested in visiting the site where the placard was found. My friend who now lives in Kelso used to work at Weyerhaeuser as a diesel mechanic and he knew ever back country road as that was his job to go out in field and repair the trucks when they broke down. You wouldn't believe how close he took me to Mt St Helens the day after it blew. It was a back Weyerhaeuser road that nobody but loggers knew about. I'm hoping he knows the hunters as he's lived in area all his life. I'm kinda into exploring stuff for myself ! Fun outing one way or the other.

Kermit,

If you do visit the site, and if you have a pocket altimeter as you indicated several days ago, please measure the altitude (or elevation) with respect to a known altitude (or elevation).  The point is to more accurately determine the altitude above sea level.  I had to estimate the 1500 feet altitude from a topographical chart.

Also, if you have a camera, please take pictures from straight south through the southwest to the west so that we can see what the terrain looks like in that direction from the placard find location.

And then please post all of the above on this site.

Addendum:  Looks like Georger and I have the same idea about photos.

agree with all - thanks R99!

Yes I will go prepared with Camera, compass, altimeter, and perhaps a S&W as there have been some Cougars spotted in the area ! It's been a very wet winter around these parts so I might need a 4 wheel drive and a come a long which I always carry when I'm out in the woods. My wife will not be happy if I take her 4 wheel drive Honda so I'm stuck with my 2 wheel drive Ranger. I'm pretty sure my friend has a 4 wheel drive PU. It might be a few weeks but I'll report back ASAP. Yes elevation is on the top of my list.

I neglected to mention earlier that if you have a hand-held GPS that has a read-out for the coordinates, you can probably also use it to determine the altitude of the placard find location.  The GPS and altimeter read-outs can be compared, but I consider the GPS altitude indication to be more accurate based on my personal experience with different hand-held GPS instruments.