Okay, maybe not 100 yards, but we were some distance. What would you estimate? 150 feet?

Say 50 to 100 FEET?

Just wanted to toss a theory regarding the money find into the ring and see what everyone thinks of it.

1. Cooper lands in or near the suspected drop zone.

2. His plan for finding his way out of the woods is to follow the waterways. The area has rivers, streams, lakes and tributaries which can all serve as points of reference for navigating his way out (after all, if you're ever lost in the woods, the best thing to do is find water and follow it). His plan is to walk until he finds water and then follow that water.

3. He walks until he finds a stream. He follows it, knowing it will likely lead into something bigger. This stream leads into the Lewis. He then follows the Lewis, knowing it will lead into the Columbia. He reaches the area where the Lewis flows into the Columbia. He now knows precisely where he is and where he needs to go. He turns and heads south to follow the Columbia upriver, knowing that there is a town X number of miles over here or a well-traveled road X number of miles over there.

4. His plan is to walk with the money in tow until he reaches the edge of a town or road. He will then hide the money just outside the town or road in a place that he will be able to easily remember and get back to soon. He knows that he will have to make contact with someone to use a phone or bum a ride somewhere. And if he walks into a diner asking to use the phone or asks if he can hitch a ride somewhere and he's all dirty and disheveled from being in the woods and he's carrying a giant bank bag ..... well, that may look a tad suspicious considering the hijacking is playing out all over the news. By ditching the money, he may still be dirty and disheveled but at least he's not toting around a huge sack of twenties.

5. He reaches the edge of the town or the road he was looking for (which he was able to find using the waterways as his guide). By this time, he is south of Tina Bar (upriver). He figures he will stash the money, seek some help getting home and then lay low and let things cool off a bit. He will then return to the area where the money is under the guise of a "camper" or "hiker" or "fisher" and will "camp," "hike" or "fish" in the area until the coast is clear and he can retrieve the money. He uses the Columbia as a point of reference and finds a particular landmark in the terrain in which to bury the money. After all, what better point of reference to use than the Columbia?

6. It's a good plan but Cooper makes one major mistake: The water level is low at this time of year and he buries the money too close to the bank of the Columbia. He does not return for the money until the spring (either by design or not). When the snow melts in the spring, the water level in the Columbia rises considerably and rises high enough to sweep the money away and send it downriver.

7. The money floats downriver (north) where it makes landfall at Tina Bar. Maybe only some of it washed up on Tina Bar while the rest continued elsewhere. Maybe the money that was found at Tina Bar is the only money he ended up with (while the rest was lost during the jump). Regardless, Cooper never finds his loot.

Now, if Cooper were to land in the suspected drop zone and find the Lewis River, then follow the Lewis to the Columbia, then follow the Columbia to a point where he is now south of Tina Bar, how many miles would that be? Is something like this even feasible?

Cooper wouldn't be starving after 12/24 hours. he would be worried about getting out of the area vs stopping for a bite to eat. that would be the last thing on his mind. escape is priority. the area would be hot, and he needs to react, and get out of the danger zone.

It's hard to know what his plan really was since nobody can say for certain that he jumped where he did, or wanted to? some believe he wanted out very early in the flight, if that's the case, he was in trouble. we have no trace of Cooper past 8:05, other than the money found in 1980. you can say he made it since nothing was found, or you could say the dropzone is wrong, and they haven't found him yet.

Just wanted to toss a theory regarding the money find into the ring and see what everyone thinks of it.

1. Cooper lands in or near the suspected drop zone.

2. His plan for finding his way out of the woods is to follow the waterways. The area has rivers, streams, lakes and tributaries which can all serve as points of reference for navigating his way out (after all, if you're ever lost in the woods, the best thing to do is find water and follow it). His plan is to walk until he finds water and then follow that water.

3. He walks until he finds a stream. He follows it, knowing it will likely lead into something bigger. This stream leads into the Lewis. He then follows the Lewis, knowing it will lead into the Columbia. He reaches the area where the Lewis flows into the Columbia. He now knows precisely where he is and where he needs to go. He turns and heads south to follow the Columbia upriver, knowing that there is a town X number of miles over here or a well-traveled road X number of miles over there.

4. His plan is to walk with the money in tow until he reaches the edge of a town or road. He will then hide the money just outside the town or road in a place that he will be able to easily remember and get back to soon. He knows that he will have to make contact with someone to use a phone or bum a ride somewhere. And if he walks into a diner asking to use the phone or asks if he can hitch a ride somewhere and he's all dirty and disheveled from being in the woods and he's carrying a giant bank bag ..... well, that may look a tad suspicious considering the hijacking is playing out all over the news. By ditching the money, he may still be dirty and disheveled but at least he's not toting around a huge sack of twenties.

5. He reaches the edge of the town or the road he was looking for (which he was able to find using the waterways as his guide). By this time, he is south of Tina Bar (upriver). He figures he will stash the money, seek some help getting home and then lay low and let things cool off a bit. He will then return to the area where the money is under the guise of a "camper" or "hiker" or "fisher" and will "camp," "hike" or "fish" in the area until the coast is clear and he can retrieve the money. He uses the Columbia as a point of reference and finds a particular landmark in the terrain in which to bury the money. After all, what better point of reference to use than the Columbia?

6. It's a good plan but Cooper makes one major mistake: The water level is low at this time of year and he buries the money too close to the bank of the Columbia. He does not return for the money until the spring (either by design or not). When the snow melts in the spring, the water level in the Columbia rises considerably and rises high enough to sweep the money away and send it downriver.

7. The money floats downriver (north) where it makes landfall at Tina Bar. Maybe only some of it washed up on Tina Bar while the rest continued elsewhere. Maybe the money that was found at Tina Bar is the only money he ended up with (while the rest was lost during the jump). Regardless, Cooper never finds his loot.

Now, if Cooper were to land in the suspected drop zone and find the Lewis River, then follow the Lewis to the Columbia, then follow the Columbia to a point where he is now south of Tina Bar, how many miles would that be? Is something like this even feasible?

It appears Cooper was familiar with this area of Washington, Tacoma to Portland. He's a tactically savvy person with a technical background and a plan. I doubt he waited or was wandering around blindly anywhere, unless he was injured. It all depends on when and where he landed and if he was injured. But his disposition based on his performance everyone witnessed, is to move fast and move hard... to get out of any search area. The situation favors him doing exactly that, if he can.

We don't know "when" the money got buried at Tina Bar because tests to try and determine that have never been performed. If we had even an approximate date that might narrow the options for what happened to Cooper, when, and possibly what happened ... on the timeline that starts with him bailing with the money, after which some of his money appears on Tina Bar to be found in 1980, 8 years later.

Cooper wouldn't be starving after 12/24 hours. he would be worried about getting out of the area vs stopping for a bite to eat. that would be the last thing on his mind. escape is priority. the area would be hot, and he needs to react, and get out of the danger zone.

Unless he stopped by Miss Clara's cabin and had some hot cocoa, snuggled next to the fire, and moved in for awhile.

Right, Marty?

Cooper wouldn't be starving after 12/24 hours. he would be worried about getting out of the area vs stopping for a bite to eat. that would be the last thing on his mind. escape is priority. the area would be hot, and he needs to react, and get out of the danger zone.

It's hard to know what his plan really was since nobody can say for certain that he jumped where he did, or wanted to? some believe he wanted out very early in the flight, if that's the case, he was in trouble. we have no trace of Cooper past 8:05, other than the money found in 1980. you can say he made it since nothing was found, or you could say the dropzone is wrong, and they haven't found him yet.

I didn't mean he stopped in for a bite to eat. Just stopped in to use the phone to call for a ride.

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Whoa, Raoul - you think DBC walked along the Lewis and the Columbia for, hmmm, sixteen miles or so in the dark? Some stretches of those waterways are in terrain that is basically impenetrable. In fact, Lower River Road does not go north much past T-Bar because the land is too marshy and unsuitable for a roadway, so it never gets to the Lewis-Columbia confluence. Further, I know of no stretches of the Lewis where anyone can walk for more than a half-mile or so in any unencumbered manner.

Your general premise though, is widely accepted, but most aficionados substitute a boat for hoofing it. Grey Cop and others tout this scenario.

On the flip side, what do you think of a ground team with full comm gear extracting DBC in a more timely fashion - all before they get breakfast at a local diner....

1. I didn't mean that he necessarily made the whole trip that night. May have taken him a couple days to reach that point south of Tina Bar. Of course, that's insinuating he had the means to survive outside in the elements for that long.

2. I didn't know how thick the terrain might be. Was thinking it may be more favorable the closer to the river you get, perhaps some exposed banks if the water level is low. As an east coaster, I'll certainly take your word for it though.

Again, consensus is Cooper was a technical guy with a plan and had some knowledge of the area from Portland to Seattle (from the air). In my opinion if he wasn't injured he wasted no time getting back to the Portland area asap.

Have you checked the ground weather conditions that night and lack of moonlight after about 8:00pm? Suggest you do that. Facts matter.

   

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Whoa, Raoul - you think DBC walked along the Lewis and the Columbia for, hmmm, sixteen miles or so in the dark? Some stretches of those waterways are in terrain that is basically impenetrable. In fact, Lower River Road does not go north much past T-Bar because the land is too marshy and unsuitable for a roadway, so it never gets to the Lewis-Columbia confluence. Further, I know of no stretches of the Lewis where anyone can walk for more than a half-mile or so in any unencumbered manner.

Your general premise though, is widely accepted, but most aficionados substitute a boat for hoofing it. Grey Cop and others tout this scenario.

On the flip side, what do you think of a ground team with full comm gear extracting DBC in a more timely fashion - all before they get breakfast at a local diner....

1. I didn't mean that he necessarily made the whole trip that night. May have taken him a couple days to reach that point south of Tina Bar. Of course, that's insinuating he had the means to survive outside in the elements for that long.

2. I didn't know how thick the terrain might be. Was thinking it may be more favorable the closer to the river you get, perhaps some exposed banks if the water level is low. As an east coaster, I'll certainly take your word for it though.

Again, consensus is Cooper was a technical guy with a plan and had some knowledge of the area from Portland to Seattle (from the air). In my opinion if he wasn't injured he wasted no time getting back to the Portland area asap.

Have you checked the ground weather conditions that night and lack of moonlight after about 8:00pm? Suggest you do that. Facts matter.

 

Those things matter no matter how he planned to get out. No matter how technical he was, there was still an element of landing, getting his bearings straight and then getting himself to safety (or getting the safety to come to him) in dark, cold and wet conditions. So unless he landed in the back of a waiting convertible, the conditions and lighting were factors for any theory of escape.