Swimmer Swept over Yosemite Waterfall.......(ignores warning signs)

[Stuart G]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/02/us/california-yosemite-search/index.html

CNN) -- Park rangers will resume their search Monday for a teenage swimmer who was swept over a nearly 600-foot waterfall in California's Yosemite National Park over the weekend.

Aleh Kalman had been swimming about 150 feet from the edge of the Nevada Fall on Saturday afternoon when he was caught up in the swift current of the Merced River, the National Park Service reported. The 19-year-old Sacramento resident had gone to the park with a church group, the park service said.

"We believe it's impossible to survive a fall like that," park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said.

Swimming above the 594-foot Nevada Fall is not illegal, but the river is marked by signs warning of the danger, Cobb said.

Searchers on foot and a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew attempted to find Kalman on Saturday but had to cut short efforts at nightfall. The grim task resumed Sunday, aided by three dog teams, the park service said.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

I have seen the signs of danger that the park service puts up near the falls. Very sad. Current is very strong at this time of year.
..I have a theory about Yosemite National Park. It is too close to large populations centers. People that only have to drive 2 or 3 hours to these parks, think they are not real parks. From San Francisco 4 hours. If it is 4 hours away, and a day trip..people think they can't be real mountains.. kinda fake mountains. put there just for California inhabitants. .. Yep..

I remember many years ago, climbing the 350 Vernal Falls trail. Steep rock stairs and very tricky trail. One needs to be sure footed and deliberate. Climbing and walking along slowly and carefully. A lady behind me was climbing up the steep stairs at the end of the trail right near the top of the falls. The rock stairs were soaked with water from the mist of the falls. Well, she slipped and broke a leg, and they had to evacuate her with a helicopter or special contraption. She was seated their in pain. She
had on what looked like house slippers, some kind of very flimsy sandals ..to climb up a one and half mile trail, then up the side of a waterfall. In the Mountains.. steep ones..
.I had on hiking boots...I always thought that is what one uses if you hike in the mountains.

[n2doc]

1. I feel sorry for his family and friends

Otherwise, he's just another idiot who paid the price for not thinking. What kind of person decides to swim just above a huge waterfall?

[closeupready]

42. My thoughts, too.

[ChazII]

62. Similar incidents happen here in the Phoenix area. Idiots

go hiking to the top of our mountains and only take one water bottle. Something happens along the trail and out come the rescue crews.

[Buzz Clik]

2. "It is too close to large populations centers." That's part of it.

People have this odd impression that "if it were dangerous, they wouldn't let you do it." I guess that comes from amusement parks.

I know what you mean, and I've seen if for myself.

[Eleanors38]

39. But improved pixel quality shows the mountains ARE fake!

[Retrograde]

59. "But it always works in games and movies!"

I think some people have a hard time telling fiction from reality: what the latest action hero gets away with (with an army of stuntpeople, SFX guys, and editors in the background) looks so easy that they want to try it, too.

Inappropriate footware is my pet peeve here: flipflops seem to be the shoe of choice among casual walkers, even on glaciers (yes, I've seen it), lava beds, and steep mountain trails. Then again, when I was recovering from a knee injury I wore sneakers on the grounds that if the trail was too rough for them it was too rough for my knee and I should go somewhere else.

[greytdemocrat]

3. Hey...

Some people are dumb as bricks. And they sink like them too.

[Botany]

4. Does not look like a good place for a swim

*********

I have seen people in the wild that really had no business being there .....
I remember one woman in the White Mts. in New Hampshire that was
close to Mt. Washington that was a total mess.

[Dash87]

63. There's tons of people that die up on Mt. Washington.

They think it's just a simple hike - traveling on one of the most violently chaotic weathered mountains in the world. Even worse are the dopes that go during the winter completely unprepared, with winds that will literally throw you off the mountain.

Someone dies there every year. 99.9% of the time it's from not respecting the mountain, and not planning correctly. Rule 1: don't go in the winter. New England winters are evil - especially in that area.

[Botany]

79. A friend and I tried to go up in early Oct. and we got about to tree line ....

..... 2 peaks north of Mt. Washington and when we stepped out of the woods a gust of
wind hit us so string that it tipped my friend over and pushed me back a few steps ....
we looked at each other and said that we could be @ nice bar/restaurant w/in
2 hours if we turned around and went back to the car. We got a hotel room and
let the storm work its magic as we ate and drank. We hit the Mts. the next day.

Great time but it has very rough terrain and even in the best of conditions "it" could
kill you or make you hurt in a heart beat ..... we spent 4 days doing the peaks and
met some French Canadians who we climbed and hiked w/ ..... one guy broke his arm
by just a misstep across a boulder field.

[hlthe2b]

5. People drive cross country to Yellowstone and do the most insane things--stick their foot in boiling

hydrothermal features--some even stepping off the clearly marked and warning-filled bridges to fall in to their horrendous death. Others see the bison and decide they must have a picture with their little toddler on the back--to horrendous end.

In the Grand Canyon, Park Service staff get to recount the grisly statistics of distracted tourists literally stepping off the rim to their deaths.

I'm not sure proximity is the issue... It is a lack of respect for the dangers of the wild, a lack of experience and an impression, yes, that someone will always be there to "save" one from your own foolishness.

The Colorado "high country" is my back yard and the dangers of avalanches, mountain lions and other wildlife and the wilderness in general are echoed on news reports constantly... But, that doesn't prevent some residents--even some long term ones, from foolishly pushing the limits.

[Stuart G]

18. Perhaps this is it..

." I'm not sure proximity is the issue... It is a lack of respect for the dangers of the wild, a lack of experience and an impression, yes, that someone will always be there to "save" one from your own foolishness.


Perhaps too,,, thinking that it is ok, because it looks ok, gives some permission to do really stupid things. The same person who would swim in a very dangerous pool, or stick his foot in a hot boiling mess at Yellowstone, would never think of running across the busiest expressway in the state at a time when the cars are..less busy. The danger is so clear on the expressway, yet is not that clear at Yellowstone or Yosemite.

of course, it is clear to those that respect the dangers...and have some understanding of them..but to those that know it all, and are so sure that they know it, then they have to experience what they will. I might add, this is not the first post on a subject like this, and probably will not be the last.

[Sheldon Cooper]

6. Shouldn't they just make swimming upriver illegal?

[Orrex]

9. Then you'd have a certain group of people howling about FREEDOM!!!

They should be free to swim there with their snowmobiles while shooting bald eagles with assault rifles.

[Sheldon Cooper]

11. I know. Sarah Palin would be leading the charge, too.

But in some instances, people really do need to be protected from themselves.

[backscatter712]

22. You'll excuse me if I'm not a fan of protecting Sarah Palin from natural selection... n/t

[demosincebirth]

64. One good example of that is having to wear helmets when riding a motorcyle. Here in California, it

has saved many lives. Bitch and complain as they may, it may have saved their life once or may in the future.

[Politicalboi]

41. Well, let that certain group protest

Let them swim near the falls. Maybe Palin can lead the charge, and be the first one in. Go Sarah Go! You don't need no stinkin rules. LOL!

[dumbcat]

48. We should probably not allow city people to

run around dangerous parks unescorted and unprotected. For their own good.

Maybe mandatory training and licensing should be required before being allowed out of the city limits?

[Orrex]

49. It's not the breed--it's the training.

Wait, wrong topic.


It certainly seems wise to require at least a baseline of training for people entirely out of their element, but in a public space I suppose it might be difficult to restrict access in that way. If I want to go on a Sasquatch hunt in the Pacific Northwest, where do I check in for my credentials?

[tk2kewl]

52. it is a long hike to the top of that waterfall

and its quite nice to cool off in the pools at the top.

it isn't hard not to go over the falls if your not a moron.

getting oneself in that situation is kind of like getting hit by a mack truck because you crossed an 8 lane interstate highway.

[Xithras]

19. Two issues with that..

1. Enforcement. If they made it illegal, someone would have to enforce it. The park doesn't have the manpower to keep a ranger stationed at the top of each waterfall.

2. Precedent. Yosemite is, and always has been, a dangerous place. The park averages 10-15 deaths every year, and the waterfalls only account for a small portion of those deaths. They don't want to get into the business of criminalizing anything that might be dangerous, because quite honestly 98% of the park is "dangerous" in one way or another. They also don't want to feed the perception that "Activity X must be safer than Activity Y because Activity X is illegal while Y isn't". Outside of Yosemite Valley, the park is a true wilderness, and you are accepting a certain level of risk simply by being there. If you show a little common sense and read the warning signs, the park is safe enough for the typical visitor on a day trip. If you don't or won't, no "law" is going to protect you in that environment.

Besides, the lawyers would have a field day with them. Numerically, more people drown on the Valley floor swimming in the placid Merced near the developed campgrounds than die in the rapids or falls. If they criminalized swimming above the falls while allowed the statistically "far more dangerous" river on the Valley floor to remain open, they'd regularly get sued by the families of every person who drowned in the Valley for ignoring the greater danger. Since banning swimming EVERYWHERE would be massively unpopular, they stick to their current position...which asks visitors to use common sense, pay attention to and FOLLOW the warning signs, and be responsible for their own safety.

[RobinA]

25. Having Just Come From

a two week visit of western parks, and being from the east coast where EVERYTHING is fenced and/or ruled against. I found it quite refreshing to know that I could look over the edge into a canyon if I wanted to. I actually had to BE CAREFUL, not something we get to exercise much here where you pretty much have to stay in the designated areas. Signs everywhere said that safety is each person's responsibility, and I agree completely. The last thing we need is for National Parks to become Disneyfied.

[SalviaBlue]

54. I totally agree.

I live at the base of the Sierra Nevadas. It's ridiculous to even consider criminalizing all of the ways you could get yourself killed up there. With great beauty and wildness comes danger and risk. You could get yourself killed just driving up there on the wrong day.

Like you said: You have to be CAREFUL.

[Dash87]

60. The problem is, such a law would be pointless.

First off, police cannot divert resources to people lacking in common sense and swimming at the top of a waterfall. Doing such a thing makes no sense anyways (no offense to the dead). That would be like telling people not to balance one foot over the ledge at the Grand Canyon - they should have enough sense not to do it anyways.

Also, the law exists to protect others, not punish or prevent stupidity. It's the same reason surfing during a hurricane is legal (I think). It should be obvious to people not to do that, and having a token law preventing it wouldn't discourage them anyways, imo.

[thucythucy]

65. Such a law would not be "pointless."

First off, there are people in this society who obey the law, even when it isn't being strictly enforced, even when there aren't police around, because they happen to be law abiding citizens. Maybe if there had been a sign there saying "swimming prohibited" these folks wouldn't have jumped in the water. I've seen such signs posted at ponds, rapids, even swimming pools ("swimming prohibited if lifeguard not on duty&quot . Even "token" laws can have an impact in preventing dangerous and downright stupid activity. Aside from which, some people make the assumption, "If it was REALLY dangerous it wouldn't be allowed." So sometimes laws can and do make a difference, even if they aren't enforced.

As for "diverting resources", the police and authorities are now having to divert resources to the search for this poor kid's body. In other instances, as mentioned in this thread, as when people fall off cliffs, break their legs on steep trails, get stranded on mountaintops etc., search teams are organized, helicoptors dispatched, emergency services mobilized.... and someone has to pay for all that. Medi-vacs don't come for free.

I'm not in favor of passing a slew of anti-stupid laws, but in select instances they do indeed make sense. This, I think, would be one of them.

[Xithras]

75. There ARE warning signs.

There is no law making it a criminal matter, but you literally pass a half dozen different signs warning you to stay out of the water on your way up the trail. This very sign is alongside the pool where the latest fatality happened:



I've seen people hang their towels over these signs (alongside Emerald Pool at Vernal Fall) so the towels will be warm and dry when they're done swimming

[thucythucy]

82. Thanks for the info. I didn't realize the warnings were so stark and numerous.

I would think a warning this explicit would suffice. In five languages, no less, and a graphic as well. Jesus.

It's very sad about the poor guy, but given this sign and others I suppose there's not much more that could have been done.

[TransitJohn]

81. Oh yeah sure, ban it for everyone because of one lone dumbass who didn't know his swimming ability.

Makes sense.

[Bennyboy]

7. I am a frequent vistor to Yosemite

And you would not believe the stuff I see. My favorite was On the Mist Trail, the steep part, was a young black kids with a huge (two hands to carry it like a baby) Boom Box. At full volume.

My favorite joke is to come down the trail from one of the attractions and tell people coming up "the falls are closed for cleaning" and then watch them turn around a head back to their car.....

[Orrex]

10. .

[Marrah_G]

14. ...

[KansDem]

58. Were they listening to "Alpine Symphony?"

(Check out the contrabass trombone at 0'35" )

[Skittles]

76. hey I enjoyed that!

[truebluegreen]

78. This is so old I couldn't find any kind of a link with the google but

back in the 70s? there was an incident at the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone where two guys came out with a big "valve" handle (3-4 ft. tall metal pipe with a round wheel w/ spokes attached to the top). As the ranger explained how Old Faithful works, and goes off every hour, they plunked it in the ground in sight of the visitors and started cranking, as if opening a valve...Old Faithful went off right on schedule, visitors were convinced it was fake, rangers were Not Happy....

[backscatter712]

8. He forgot his barrel! n/t

[bemildred]

12. Pizza.

That is the decription I received once of the result of this sort of accident.

A not uncommon occurrence at Yosemite, and you better believe those little streams will rip your feet right out from under you. Happened to me once when I was young, but I got to the side of the stream, it was only a couple feet away.

[Arugula Latte]

26. Me too. I was wading in a river in Yosemite when I was about 6. Got knocked down.

Luckily it wasn't that deep...I think that incident was actually fortuitous because I never forgot the feeling of that water overpowering me. You've got to respect its strength.

[bemildred]

46. Until you have felt it, you just don't really know.

Viscosity goes up exponentially with velocity. If it's going fast enough it might as well be solid.

It's like the first time you step from a "slow" moving vehicle and you find that you simply cannot run that fast no matter what and you smack the ground.

[Trajan]

13. I have been above Nevada Fall

Standing at the top, looking down at the roiling, bubbling waters as they race though the thin channels that lead off the falls .. Anybody who decides to enter the river in the midst of that watery tumult needs to have their head examined ...

Or get scraped off the rocks some 600' below ...

The name of the trail you mention is known as the Mist Trail ... it is very wet and slippery, and it's pretty difficult for experienced hikers, let alone the city folk who show up once a lifetime ... when I visit, I stare at that rushing water and simply cannot believe anybody would ever consider jumping in ... the Merced River above Nevada Fall is vicious, and there is no reason to think it is swimmable ...

[Xithras]

15. I'm a bit blown away by the Nevada Fall thing too.

In a way, I sadly do understand how people can be fooled and killed by Vernal Fall downstream (which kills far more people). The Emerald Pool above the Vernal Fall looks wide, deep, placid, and inviting most of the year, and it's separated from the falls by about 50 yards of apparently shallow stream. Someone not familiar with the water conditions could easily be fooled into thinking it's safe.

But NEVADA?!?! It's fast flowing and rocky at the BEST of times! There's a SMALL pool on one of the streams that might appear swimmable if the flow is low enough, but it's right at the edge of the rapids leading into the falls and one would have to be particularly clueless to consider it anything close to "safe". In fact, there really isn't any "safe" stretch of river above the falls until you get to a couple of pools near the Little Yosemite ranger station roughly a mile upstream...and I've heard several people argue that even those are unsafe, as the falls are still under 5 minutes downstream in moderate flows. I once had a ranger tell me that he wouldn't step foot anywhere in the Merced River between Merced Lake and the floor of Yosemite Valley without a safety line.

[Franker65]

16. Very sad

Bad place to go swimming, terrible way to go (presuming he really didn't survive the fall).

[Arugula Latte]

17. Holy crap. What a way to go. :(

The force of water is just unbelievably strong. People need to respect that.

[cbdo2007]

20. Here is a good photo of that area from Wikipedia:

I just posted the link but it added the photo automatically, but if you actually go to the Navada Fall page on Wikipedia you can close up to the top of falls in the picture.

Pretty stupid to swim anywhere upstream from the falls and bridge here. RIP and hope it was relatively painless.

[PotatoChip]

30. Gorgeous place, but tragic story. (nt)

[Make7]

77. They usually have smaller preview image links at wikipedia right under the pictures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nevada_Fall_from_Glacier_Point,_Yosemite_NP,_CA,_US_-_Diliff.jpg

Posting a 5.5Mb picture on a discussion forum can be seen as bad netiquette.

I recommend posting a smaller preview that is a link to the full sized image for those that want to see it. The code I would use:

[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left: 1em; border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0.4615em; box-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #999999;"][link:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Nevada_Fall_from_Glacier_Point%2C_Yosemite_NP%2C_CA%2C_US_-_Diliff.jpg|http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Nevada_Fall_from_Glacier_Point%2C_Yosemite_NP%2C_CA%2C_US_-_Diliff.jpg/640px-Nevada_Fall_from_Glacier_Point%2C_Yosemite_NP%2C_CA%2C_US_-_Diliff.jpg]
[font style="font-size:0.8462em;"](click on image for full sized picture [5.48Mb] in new tab/window)[/font]

Or you can make a picture not embed here at DU by replacing the period before the extension with .. Like this...

[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left: 1em; border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0.4615em; box-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #999999;"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nevada_Fall_from_Glacier_Point,_Yosemite_NP,_CA,_US_-_Diliff.jpg
... which should give you the link at the beginning of my post.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. I don't think it's proximity to cities that's the problem.

I think it's the mistaken notion that since it's a "park" it's safe and the fact that you can walk from the car to the trailhead without getting mud on your shoes.

I've seen just about everything in terms of footwear on trails. Me, I hate to hike even an easy trail unless I'm wearing boots.

[byeya]

24. Bingo! It's the unfamiarity of a semi-wilderness situation coupled with the happiness of being

away from home and on vacation. Add to the mix, unfamiliarity with park regulations found in Title 36 of the USC.

There's also a decades old internal National Park Service debate on the amount of warning signs and things like railings. They detract from the beauty of the place but you have to give the visitors a chance to realize what they may face. Where do you draw the line?

[Gormy Cuss]

32. I don't think there is an easy answer

although long ago I had a fantasy admission test for park lands: require everyone to use a pit toilet before they enter the park. When they exited it, hand them a flyer that says:
"If you think that was roughing it, go back to your car now. Trust me.
Signed,
Yogi the Bear."

[kiva]

23. I've seen this discussion

in an article that argues that we as a society have become so used to the idea that we can (and have) removed danger from any 'natural' situation - helmet on bicyclists, seatbelts and airbags, safety feature on equipment - that many people have lost the ability to identify, or even believe in, real danger that is not produced by humans (murder, rape, kidnapping, etc.).

I am not saying that these safety features are bad - my airbags and seatbelt saved me from pretty major injuries a few months ago - but for some people they have engendered a laziness in their ability to think critically about situations.

[Arugula Latte]

27. That happens a lot with wild animals.

People think they're living in a Disney movie and are surprised when wild animals are unpredictable and dangerous towards humans.

[byeya]

28. Yes. I've seen people approach bears and bisons for closeup photos. There is a disconnect

for some people when they go on vacation to a totally new environment which is often set aside for the animals.

[Xithras]

47. Oh buddy....

...lemmetellyaaboutthis one....

About 10 years ago I was stopped with a hiking buddy at Wapama Falls while he redistributed his pack. If you've never been there, Wapama is a popular stop at Hetch Hetchy for people who want to explore outside of Yosemite Valley, but still want to stick with sneaker-friendly trails. While I'm waiting for him, I overhear a couple of little girls behind me, who were out with their parents on a day hike, shriek: "Look, a RACCOON!" Followed quickly by a "It's getting away" and a "Honey, get the camera" from the dad. I'm used to inane tourists at Yosemite, so I didn't really give it much thought until I heard the dad shout to his daughter "Get in front of it over there before it gets away! I want to get a picture of you with it!"

I turned around at that point, fully intending to shout at the dad to tell him that this was a WILD PLACE and that the animals weren't friendly. More importantly, I was planning on telling him that he was a dumbass because pissed off raccoons can tear the hell out of a little kid.

But I didn't, because when I turned around, I realized that it wasn't a raccoon. It was a badger. This little 10-ish year old girl was less than 25 feet away from a fucking BADGER, trying to head it off before it could escape. And they thought it was a RACCOON

What came out instead was a barely comprehensible stream of words aimed at the kid that included something along the lines of "that thing is going to kill you" along with a string of expletives. A couple of other hikers and I immediately charged the thing to chase it off, and the other hikers tore the parents a new asshole as they explained how close they came to just killing their kid. The mother broke down when one of the hikers told her, "You just told your daughter to trap the ONLY animal in Yosemite that even the BEARS are scared of!"

What truly, truly sucked about the situation was the fact that it is exceptionally rare to see a badger in Yosemite, because they tend to be nocturnal and solitary animals. I've hiked that park nearly every summer since I was a kid, and that was the only time I've ever actually spotted one, and instead of being able to enjoy the sighting and observe it in peace, I had to help chase the thing into the underbrush to save a family full of dumbass daytrippers who apparently thought that Yosemite was a giant petting zoo.

[byeya]

66. Jeez a badger. I am very familiar with them and they are very strong with long sharp claws.

You probably saved the kid's life since you were so far from first aid.

[kiva]

67. Glad you were there!

And I get the annoyance part - I love to be able to observe animals, and having to chase one instead wouldn't be what I'd like to do either.

[Xithras]

71. Can't take full credit.

There were a couple of other hikers coming up the trail at the same moment. They spotted the badger and reacted instantly too. In fact, the badger probably would have stood its ground if it were just me. The fact that it was suddenly facing four humans was likely the only reason that it turned and fled.

And I was very, very annoyed. I've had the opportunity to view a large number of endangered, rare, or simply uncommon animals in the park. I've seen several Red Foxes, several Mountain Beaver, Bighorn Sheep, cougar, and I'm even 90% sure that I spent about 5 minutes watching a wolverine (from a distance!) across the parks border in the Emigrant Wilderness once. But those fleeting few seconds were it when it comes to badgers. I'd never seen one before, and haven't seen another since. To have such a rare opportunity spoiled by a couple of clueless parents was a bit infuriating.

But then again, as my wife later pointed out, I only looked in that direction BECAUSE of that dayhikers comment to his daughter. It's possible that, if they hadn't been there, I may never have spotted it at all!

Of course, my wife also once pointed out that the kid was lucky that it happened when it did. Back then, everyone reacted to save the kid. Nowadays I'd half expect everyone to just whip out their iPhone and record the badger as it ate the kid

[kiva]

74. Scarily I think your wife might be right

[RobinA]

31. As Someone Who Grew Up

in the country, although the relatively undangerous mid-Atlantic country, it amazes me how out of touch people from the city are when it comes to the non-human stuff. And I'm no backcountry ranger who has hiked grizzly habitat in Yellowstone, I'm just a person who grew up playing in fields and barns. Either they are afraid that a squirrel is going to bite their leg off or they are attempting to feed bison.

[Burma Jones]

37. I knew a guy that wanted to get in tune with "Bear Vibes" in West Virginia

I did not backpack with this guy......

[byeya]

40. I wouldn't either. We have bears get into our garbage cans and bird feeders at the house.

I've had enough bear vibes.

[Le Taz Hot]

29. Every. Year.

I live just south of Yosemite and this happens every year. It's so much more tragic in that it's something that is COMPLETELY avoidable. The signs are usually posted in several languages warning people not to go swimming because of the currents. The thing is, there are lakes fairly close to Yosemite in which it IS safe to swim (Bass Lake comes to mind).

[byeya]

34. I think 2011 was a record or near record year for accidental deaths in national parks. It was a hot

summer and many of the national lakes, like Lake Mead NRA or Delaware Water Gap saw many drownings.
In the back country of Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings National Parks, there are many snowmelt creeks that don't have bridges and early in the season, like now, they are difficult to ford and a few people get swept away.

[nobodyspecial]

33. I think it is lack of education

and exposure to the perils of outdoors. I don't think people are stupid. The just haven't been taught any better. I think along with warning postings, they need to also post the number killed -- not to scare anyone but to alert them to the dangers and maybe wake them up a bit.

It also would be nice if we had more park rangers (or volunteers) stationed at main trailheads during peak times to tack to people -- check out their footwear, their gear, if they have a map & compass, etc. It sounds like common sense, but if you are from the city or suburbs, you might not have any clue. My friend has a neighbor who moved from the suburbs from an apartment in the city. He didn't know how to work a lawnmower or how to weed the garden. It wasn't stupidity, just skills he hadn't learned.

[byeya]

35. Parks with large back country areas, like the Grand Canyon and Sequoia/Kings have back

country offices where free permits are given out. It's a way for rangers to meet the hikers and judge whether or not their equipment is appropriate for the trails they are intending to take.

[Eleanors38]

43. And a surfeit of synthetic 'tude.

[cbdo2007]

45. There are signs posted. You can't do enough education to help some people....

I'm not sure why everyone here is trying to fix this and explain it away. It is sad that the event happened, but you are never going to make everyone safe because the more rules you make the more people will try to break them and live on the edge. You just have to let some people be idiots sometimes when they know the risks and when they die because of it you say "Well that's too bad" and go about your day.

[kiva]

68. Exactly this.

Some people are genuinely stupid - I say this because they make no attempt to educate themselves.

Everyone I know that has traveled abroad spends hours, heck days, pouring over information, but if you can drive somewhere, pay a fee, and enter, somehow the brain just disconnects for some folks.

[Burma Jones]

36. Last August, the family went to Yosemite, Curry Village, in a double walled Cabin Tent.....

since demolished due to Hantavirus.....

We were very watchful until October for those dreaded "flu-like symptoms" but we all were fine.....

Did see a basketball-sized mouse nest removed from the cabin next door by guys in hazmat suits as we gathered our stuff and checked out.....

All that said, I'd go back in a heartbeat......

[byeya]

38. The Hantavirus was new to Yosemite I think. It was known from Appalachian trail shelters -

Shenandoah NP I think is where people were first sickened by it and hantavirus is very common on the Navajo reservation.
Glad you and your family didn't get sick.

[frylock]

44. that water had to be rather frigid as well..

I backpack a lot in the Sierra, and that water is still extremely cold in August.

[LiberalLoner]

50. Growing up in Montana we all heard stories of city folk climbing glaciers with street shoes,

Getting too close to a Grizzly or Bison in hopes of getting a good photo, people getting lost in the Bob Marshall wilderness, people getting frostbite and hypothermia, etc. etc. etc.

You just shake your head at the news story and say, there goes another one.

[Jesus Malverde]

51. Witness tells of horror as 3 swept over fall in Yosemite - 2011

But then Bibee noticed that three other people had also crossed over, and were "taking pictures and being stupid."

And then, as he watched in horror, one of them, a young woman, slipped. In an instant, she was sliding away, carried toward the precipice as onlookers screamed.

"The woman goes first," Bibee said. "Then the older gentleman at that point falls in. I'm watching the two of them being swept away. I'm starting to jet for the edge. It's just instinct. But Amanda says, 'No, no, don't go!' Then there was another guy I hadn't seen. I didn't see him fall in.

"But he looks back, just as he's being swept over the edge. I knew then they were not going to make it. They're going over the waterfall."

The three were members of a group of 12 from a Central Valley church group that had hiked to the top of the waterfall, said Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman.

Ignoring posted signs and repeated warnings, they had climbed over the metal-bar barricade to get in the Merced River about 25 feet from the edge of the falls.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/21/local/la-me-0721-yosemite-plunge-20110721

[hunter]

53. Here's a college instructor's collection of park accidents...

http://faculty.deanza.edu/donahuemary/fatal,nearfatalorclosecallincidents/accidentsincamping,backpacking,climbingandmountaineering

There are many people who learned all their "wilderness skills" watching television or playing video games.

I truly think that's a problem. They think they know stuff, but they don't know anything.



People also become rushed or overconfident trying to cram as many experiences as they can into vacations that are just too short. (Rock climbers and people with other "Type A Personality" hobbies seem especially vulnerable to this.)

It's a problem with our society, everyone is in a hurry. Sadly, it's a race to nowhere and often ends badly.

[Stuart G]

73. Excellent point...what the hell is the rush...?

A few years ago, my girlfriend and I were on the road to Glacier Point...I remember telling her there was a "nice view there" She hadn't been to Yosemite..so on the road we got stopped.. there was some paving on that road, and we were "stuck" for about a half hour..sitting in that car..We were both ok..

Now I thought about it then and now...Where the hell would I want to be?.. It was a very nice clear day in the summer ..and we were on the way to an incredible place. So what ..? I was not in a hurry, and she didn't really know, except, so far that day all the views were incredible.

So, we got there at 3:30 instead of 2:45..and enjoyed the view.. perhaps someone can put up a view. .What a place Yosemite is and no one needs to swim anywhere there are danger signs. You don't have to swim at all.. walk and enjoy...Oh..at Glacier Point..it is a long way down..more than twice the height of the Empire State Building for those that do not know...

[WinkyDink]

55. Mother Nature isn't running a theme park.

[tularetom]

56. I can be in Yosemite in a half hour from here

But the only time I go anymore is when we have somebody in from out of town and then we probably only see the valley or maybe take the Four Mile Trail up to Glacier Point.

I personally knew three people who drowned in the Merced River inside the park or just outside at El Portal. Although none of these incidents happened above any of the falls, alcohol was involved in all three.

[Stuart G]

57. Thank you for shedding some light ...perhaps booze made this person

invincible as it often does. Drugs do the same...

[Demoiselle]

61. I'm just astonished that he was allowed to get into the water at all.

150 feet is 50 yards.... half the length of a football field. He was swimming THAT close to the cliff?
Good grief! I would have thought nobody would be allowed in that water for at least a mile!
Hey, if swimming there ain't illegal it bloody well should be. (Sorry, I'm just horrified at this story.)

[kiva]

70. This is part of the problem.

I'm seriously not picking on you, but what you said is exactly the issue - too many people have spent their lives being protected from almost every possible danger from accidents (helmets, seatbelts, safety guards) that they assume that everything in life is safe. And, as I said in another post, all of those things that protect us are good, we just have to educate ourselves.

I have to weigh in on the side of "we can't and shouldn't attempt to make everything safe"; people who are careful should be able to swim there; people who have educated themselves should be able to observe wildlife; people should be able to stand at the edge of the cliff, even if some idiot the week before thought is would be fun to lean out too far "because if it was really dangerous they wouldn't let me do it!".

[Codeine]

80. Sometimes stupid should be painful, maybe even fatal.

I'm not fond of the idea a world where it's all guardrails and off-limits areas. The wilderness is wild, and sometimes - especially when you don't respect it - that shit will kill you. If it wasn't potentially dangerous it would cease to be wild and would turn into a theme park, and I really don't think people want that.

[bettyellen]

69. I have another theory- a small percentage of people, when seeing a sign that says "Warning, Do not..

do X". Decide immediately that they just have to do X.

When I toured some serious mountains and glaciers in Patagonia, there was one in almost every group, sneaking off where they shouldn't. Lots of people wanting to do campfires in the brush even though huge swathes of the park had been decimated by one that spread. The guides had a ton of stories about tourists going rouge.

[alphafemale]

72. But aren't most people in Yosemite killed by cars?

I think suicides are up there too right?

[Earth_First]

83. I've run into NYC'ers in the backcountry in the Adirondack Mountains who have absolutely no business

there.

Camelbacks and small daypacks with shorts and cotton t-shirts. Absolutely nothing to overnight with in the event that an accident were to occur.

Two years ago we came across a group of overdue hikers who said it was 'no big deal' when we found them hiking at 5 a.m. on our way towards Marcy via the Gardens. If they had not found their way out by that evening, they would have been subject to a SAR team searching for them. It is a big deal. The register at the trailhead is not a lean-to notebook to leave your musings upon it. It is meant to serve as a vital tool to attempt to locate overdue hikers...

We see it all the time.