3 swept over Yosemite waterfall, witnesses say

[cbdo2007]

A search is under way in Yosemite National Park for as many as three people who may have been swept over the 317-foot-high Vernal Fall on the Merced River in eastern California.

Park rangers have closed the Mist Trail to the fall until at least noon Wednesday, saying they are conducting a search after receiving unconfirmed reports of one or more visitors being swept over the fall.

Witnesses told CNN affiliate KGPE-TV that three people were swept over the fall around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“I saw the man’s eyes when he went over the falls. That was devastating,” witness Jacob Bibee told KGPE.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/20/3-swept-over-yosemite-waterfall-witnesses-say/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yikes! I just looked at some pics I took from the top of Vernal Falls. Pretty scary and sad.

[MineralMan]

1. I've been up on the top of Vernal Falls, too. I can't imagine

how I'd get swept over. I knew the falls were there and made sure I was safely away. It's very sad that people may have died, all the same.

[cbdo2007]

2. I don't know what happened here....but many people are reckless

and don't understand the power of the falls. Even when I was up there, people were sitting and standing on rocks dangerously close to the rushing waters, closer than I would have ever gone. I stick to the paths and bridges but others like to live on the edge, literally.

[pitohui]

18. the falls are EXCEPTIONALLY large and strong this year

this is an exceptional year for the waterfalls

if you think the falls are the same size they "usually" are, you're gonna get awfully wet, we did!

[HuckleB]

42. I guess people don't understand what fences and signs mean.

Heck, there are even signs pointing out that part of the area is not to be accessed because NPS is trying to let the vegetation grow back.

[meow mix]

3. micheal, will and holly?

maybe they are ok. just in another place now

[Evasporque]

8. BEWARE THE SLEESTAK

[RSillsbee]

4. There's a place right above Helen Hunt Falls

here in the Springs where people go to photograph the falls. There's a rail fence and a sign like every 10 feet that says the rocks are slicker than they look DON'T go out past the fence and people do it all the time and every so often some dumb ass earns a Darwin Award.

People are stupid

[Stuart G]

6. Yes, people are very very stupid. I got a vey short story about that trail..

I was at the top of Vernal Falls. To get to the top there is a relatively short mountain trail,(1.5 miles) with steps cut out of the mountain. One gal, was walking up the trail, 50 to 100 feet in front of me.. it is over 1000 foot vertical climb, some parts very steep.. I remember it very clearly, 1996, cause it was 11 months after my heart surgery, I was so proud that I made it to the top...)..and I remember.. it was/is very slippery....

This woman was walking in cloggs, or some kind of slippers. not walking shoes, not boots..well she slipped on the trail (due to the mist from the waterfalls) and broke
her leg, and couldn't move. So they had to bring in a helicopeter to get her out. She was very stupid to be walking up that trail in those things....


Since this place, Yosemite is so close to San Francisco, and so easy to get to, people think it is some kind of park..a playland..

It is a fucken mountain, and it is very very dangerous. I remember the signs too. don't go past the guardrail...extreme danger.
Maybe you gotta take a reading test to go on that trail..It wouldn't help...

[EFerrari]

7. I went up that trail with my kids and their dad one year

and was also proud to make it to the top because at the time, I was battling a swarm of phobias. The trail was steep and slippery and also, crowded. If one person had fallen, they could easily have taken five more down with them.

It was beautiful, though. :)

[TwilightGardener]

9. Crazy to wear clogs while hiking. Or, as I've seen, flip flops. Crazier still

was when my family and I were hiking on a very steep, rocky trail (you had to clamber over boulders and there was loose rubble everywhere) and a woman who had to have been at least 8 months pregnant passed us! Just couldn't wait a couple more months to go hiking? Really?

[Maru Kitteh]

16. While pregnancy has certain concerns, it is not a disease condition. She passed you, didn't she?

Sounds like she was pretty healthy.

[TwilightGardener]

55. I was thinking in terms of falling and being injured on the trail, possibly

injuring the baby. Or going into labor. Etc.

[mrs_p]

27. It was easier to go hiking before the baby was born

than it is now, nearly 5 months after. I hiked/snowshoed as long as I could too (~7mo). Dr. had no problem with it...

[Arugula Latte]

13. In Yosemite I've seen busloads of foreign tourists pull up

Many of the women are dressed in skirts, hose, and heels. Seriously. For Yosemite.

[XemaSab]

36. They need more foreign-language signs there

Chinese, Japanese, and Russian in particular.

[Arugula Latte]

46. And you'd think the tour leaders would warn them to wear appropriate clothing.

...Or maybe they do and get ignored ...

It's like some of them don't quite understand the concept of entering wilderness.

[LanternWaste]

29. Sometime we are, sometime we are not.

"People are stupid..."

Sometime we are, sometime we are not.

[RSillsbee]

52. No, we're pretty much always stupid ( Including me) NT

[Hassin Bin Sober]

86. Helen Hunt ? The actress?

[RSillsbee]

90. Helen Hunt one of the founders of Colorado Springs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUiNSo2Q7f0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI0rkE97znM&feature=related

[Baclava]

5. You gotta be careful out there, one wrong step in the mountains...

"At least eight people have died in the park this year"

[Baclava]

10. victims identified - Authorities: 3 swept over waterfall presumed dead

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Three visitors were presumed dead Wednesday after being swept over a raging waterfall in Yosemite National Park, authorities said. Witness Jake Bibee said the three people fell from Vernal Falls after they ignored warning signs and crossed a barricade to pose for photographs.

The people were identified as Hormiz David, 22, of Modesto, Ninos Yacoub, 27, of Turlock, and Ramina Badal, 21, of Modesto.

Bibee, of Angels Camp, described a chaotic scene when he and a friend hiked to the top of Vernal Falls Tuesday.

At first he saw a man on the far side of a safety railing next to the 317-foot falls holding a screaming girl while another young girl took their photograph.Two others in their party then crossed the barricade to pose for photos on a rock 50 feet upstream from the falls. He said the woman on the rock slipped and the man fell in trying to reach her. Another woman also fell in trying to stop them.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/20/authorities-3-swept-over-waterfall-presumed-dead/

[Maru Kitteh]

17. How horrific. It sounds like the woman being held was terrified.

This is why it's so important to chose your friends well and never ignore your instincts.

[seabeyond]

25. so horribly sad. nt

[Stuart G]

11. Why is this a major story??plese tell me..

You jump a barrier to feed a tiger, the tiger bites you...is that stupid?

These two hikers went around a barrier in an extremely dangerous place. (ok one tried to save the others)
Is a stupid mistake really national news?
How many drunk drivers with passengers kill each day?...does it get national coverage...

Just asking?? thanks.

[WinkyDink]

41. 1. It was in a FAMOUS NATIONAL PARK; 2. This is what news is: individual stories that illustrate

a larger theme.
CF:
Donne's "Meditation XVII"

[Eddie Haskell]

65. I agree

People die every day. Stupid people just die younger.

[hugo_from_TN]

12. Darwin award candidates, sadly. N/T

[XemaSab]

14. According to "Death in Yosemite"

at least 48 people have eaten it going over falls in Yosemite.

In every single case the people who died were doing something stupid.

Some of the falls are over 1,400 feet.

It's an awful way to go.

[pitohui]

20. i actually doubt it's a particularly awful way to go

almost any way to go i can think of off the top of my head is more awful than going over a waterfall, to be honest, it's quick and doesn't involve lots of doctors charging your family lots of money to chop pieces off your body

i'd say as ways to go...when the time comes, it might actually be one of the better ones, and it would save your family a lot of clean-up

however, in this case, it was clearly some young people testing limits, which is sad, but once we kill off all the adventurous young people capable of testing limits, that too will be sad...so i don't know quite what to say, sometimes life is just sad

but it certainly doesn't sound like an "awful" way to go, no offense, you get in the news and you're probably aware of dying for about three minutes, instead of three years or longer as has happened to WAY too many people i've known who did absolutely not a thing wrong and died what could truly sincerely be considered "awful" deaths

[cbdo2007]

33. how does the death happen?

from drowning or impact? I would think if it was impact, then yeah it wouldn't be so bad but if you're struggling underwater for 3-4 minutes that can't be much fun.

[WinkyDink]

39. So you're okay with falling from oh, about 10 stories, are you? That's not "awful"?

[jberryhill]

56. I think the point was "awful relative to what?"

I find heights tempting. There is a part of me that wants to jump just for the sensation of extended weightlessness.

Niagara Falls has the same effect, and it's possible to get lucky there.

How are you planning to die?

[cbdo2007]

62. I don't think falling from a height would give you a feeling of "extended weightlessness"

due to gravity. You would feel wind for a few seconds while your stomach feels like it is in your throat and then you would hit the ground.

You are confusing falling with floating in a zero gravity environment, which would give you weightlessness. I sure hope you aren't tempted enough to do it sometime as I think you would be greatly disappointed based on what you are expecting.

[jberryhill]

63. "Weight" is the sensation of force exerted by gravity on something

Talk to these guys:



You feel "weight" on the bottoms of your feet, and throughout your joints, when you are standing on the ground.

When gravity is acting freely to accelerate you, such as in an orbiting vehicle or an airplane following a parabolic trajectory, you have the sensation of weightlessness.

Prior to reaching terminal velocity, where wind resistance keeps a falling object at a constant velocity depending on its cross-sectional area and mass, it has a reduced weight.

[girl gone mad]

92. A person who reaches terminal velocity in freefall..

couldn't distinguish the sensation from floating in zero gravity (leaving aside air resistance, noise, etc.). The man in my avatar wrote about this some.. damn, has it been 100 years.. ago.

[Maru Kitteh]

96. I think it's stupid to imagine three young people who knew they were seconds from certain death

felt anything other than blinding terror.

Awful way to go.

[Xithras]

47. I think the worst part is knowing that you're about to die.

Most people swept over falls don't fall directly into the waterfall, but instead fall into the rivers upstream of the falls. They have time to comprehend what is about to happen to them, and realize that there is nothing they can do to prevent it.

And then you go over the falls. At 300+ feet, they had nearly 5 seconds to contemplate those pointy granite rocks as they hurtled toward them. Count those out...one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four one thous...BANG.

The impact itself would be instant and nearly painless, but the events leading up to it would be beyond terrifying. It would be an awful way to leave this world.

Not to mention the fact that their bodies are likely jammed into the rocks below the falls at this point. When people are swept over the various falls in Yosemite, it's not unusual for the rangers to simply leave their bodies until the flows diminish in late summer, and then pick up any clothing or bones that can still be found. Unless the body is thrown clear of the falls, the water is simply coming down with too much force to retrieve them. There have been a couple of bodies that were never recovered, because no sign was found of them after the flows went down. It's generally assumed that the water simply pulverized their remains and washed them downstream in chunks too small to recognize.

Yes, it's an awful way to go.

[Maru Kitteh]

53. In Yellowstone, some people have actually jumped into the thermal pools

Sometimes they have to wait until the body is finished cooking, so that it floats to the surface where it can be retrieved. Sometimes they only get back whatever parts break free when it falls apart, or whatever comes off of the bone.

[WinkyDink]

68. Sounds like a snack for the bears!

[snooper2]

64. they actually didn't "leave this world"

and as soon as impact no more synapses are firing so no memory exist anymore

[Lance_Boyle]

73. Sadly not - they left behind at least 2 children. n/t

[Xithras]

15. I've hiked that trail dozens of times in my life.

And EVERY SINGLE TIME, I've seen some oblivious moron cross the barricade to get a photo near the edge, or even worse...swimming in the Emerald Pool above the falls. I've actually seen PARENTS let their CHILDREN slide down the smooth granite where the river flows into the Emerald Pool like it was some kind of waterslide.

The idiocy of some humans is astounding.

[MedicalAdmin]

89. I saw a parent try to lift up a 2 year old and put it...

... on the back of a bull elk like it was a ride a disney.

Yikes. That wasn't pretty. You couldn't pay me enough to be a ranger dealing with the public in a busy park like yellowstone....

[Le Taz Hot]

19. It's being reported locally that the three

climbed over the roped-off area to get a closer look, DESPITE warning signs EVERYWHERE. I've lost count at how many drownings we've had on the Kings, Merced and San Joaquin rivers this year. They've closed several sections off and STILL people go past the barricades and try to go down these raging rivers in inner tubes with no life vests.

I'm sorry for the families of the three but if the local reports are true, they were warned.

[Stuart G]

22. Yes, they were warned. Sometimes does no good to those

who are not smart enough to understand the warnings. These same people wouldn't think of going into a dangerous crime infected part of a major city, yet they know that swimming near a waterfalls in the mountains, where signs up saying extremely dangerous, well that is ok. Sometimes human stupidity shocks me, but most of the time no...

[seabeyond]

26. i lived in bakersfield. Kern river was the killer in that area. highschool

knew a kid that drowned. just was not unusual.

[Eddie Haskell]

66. The river's not the killer.

People who do not recognize or, worse yet, ignore the risks are responsible and they pay the price.

[seabeyond]

69. wow. ok. thanks

:eyes:

[Eddie Haskell]

87. Nothing personal, I know you didn't mean it that way.

I just get tired of people blaming nature for their own stupidity. Someone falls from a tree and their friends cut the tree down ... someone dies in a rapid and the boulders are removed ... someone's killed by a mother bear and she's destroyed. Nature is what it is ... get too close to the edge and you may fall.

[petronius]

70. There is a lot of water in the western Sierra this year,

and all the creeks and rivers are extra-powerful; I've been reading that people are drowning or being rescued on the Kern and others while swimming in places they've found perfectly safe for decades. We tried a bit of backpacking trip at the beginning of the month, and as much as I knew the snow was high I was stunned - we were walking on solid snow down to 8000', and many of the stream crossings were challenging or simply undoable.

No excuse for hopping a fence or not evaluating the conditions of course, but this is a pretty exceptional year...

[seabeyond]

71. on the other hand

i am really glad to see CA got enough water this year. kern river i remember them putting up a billboard showing number of people killed. was a rotating number thing. to leave an impression

[petronius]

74. Absolutely. Our reservoirs are brimming this year, and it must be kind of a relief for

the water managers to be worrying about flood control for a change rather than water supply. Unless a levee breaks or it all dries out fast for fire season, our current 'problems' can be managed by caution and common sense. Still tragic, though...

[HuckleB]

44. It's fenced off, and it's not a subtle fence. -eom-

[DisgustipatedinCA]

21. Some shots of Vernal Fall, from above and below

I took these last summer, when the Merced's flow was very low. These are from the top, in an area called the Silver Apron.




There's a metal rail at the top. I was behind the rail in the sane world. These people were on the other side, in the open. The flow of the Merced River shown in these pictures is much, much lower than it is right now. The record snowpack from the winter, and the subsequent re-freezing of a lot of it during the spring, has made for spectacular waterfalls and a huge volume of water running the Merced River.


And from below.

--


This was taken just a few weeks ago, and shows the 317' Vernal Fall below the ~600' Nevada Falls. Note that the river and falls are much stronger than they were in the summer shots from last year.


A tighter shot of Nevada Falls and Vernal Fall (from Glacier Point)

[Baclava]

24. beautiful pics!

I googled some from this year

[WinkyDink]

38. WAIT! The victims had to CLIMB over that fence (it's more than a railing)? OMG, how fatally stupid.

[begin_within]

51. Yep, they climbed over the fence... here's a few more pics:

[Blue_Tires]

61. I at least hope the surviving family members have the decency to NOT sue the NPS

[MilesColtrane]

72. Doesn't get much clearer than that.

"If you go over the fall, you will die."

[begin_within]

76. I'm not sure if this sign is in use any more,

but I think it was the best one:

[MicaelS]

94. Thank you, that once single picture

Explains it all. I now understand how people could be so stupid.

[jberryhill]

57. It's the only way to get to the raccoons to feed them

Sometimes hungry raccoons gather on the other side of the fence, so the only way to feed them is to climb over.

Simple.

[Retrograde]

78. Why on Gaia's green earth would anyone want to feed raccoons?

All it does is train them to associate people with food, a bad idea for wildlife - not to mention the people who feed them. No food for me? Well, I guess I'll just take that finger. And those cute little ground squirrels - many of them in the West carry the fleas that host Yersinia pestis. Let wildlife stay wild!

[jberryhill]

79. Because the same sign says "don't feed the animals"

So, if you are going to hop the fence next to that sign, you might as well go for the gusto.

[kath]

85. Yep - WAY stoopid - they sure took themselves out of the gene pool, eh?

Man.

[TEXASYANKEE]

99. WOW!

I'll admit, I might climb the fence and sit with my feet in a pool of water (as the girls on the right side of your earlier photo were doing) when the water is low. NO WAY would I go near the water when it's a high as this picture. What were those people thinking??

[cbdo2007]

34. Here are good pics showing the top of the falls from 2009 and 2011:

here is close up from 2011:

[Liberal_in_LA]

80. OMG!!

[cynannmarie]

84. fantastic pics!

I hiked part way to Vernal Falls in June but didn't make it to the top so it's great to see these views (from a safe place, anyway).

[Crabby Appleton]

37. Great pics, thanks. nt

[bigwillq]

43. Great shots.

:thumbsup:

[Le Taz Hot]

23. The is from a local news report

from the falls themselves. You can see the what they look like this year.

http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/Search-continues-for-three-missing-hikers-in-Yosemite-National-Park-125884213.html?vid=a

[Arugula Latte]

28. Never underestimate the sheer power of water.

Never.

People are killed on the Oregon Coast because they stand on giant logs, many of which are located seemingly high up on the beach. One sneaker wave that floats the logs in a couple of inches of water can mean someone is pinned under hundreds of pounds of timber.

[grasswire]

83. In Oregon this year a massive log pinned a little girl underneath

Three kids were playing on the massive log. A sneaker wave came in and rolled the log. One little girl was pinned face down underneath the log and wasn't breathing when finally dug out. She was flown to hospital. I never read how she did after that.

Be careful out there.

[Arugula Latte]

88. I read that story...It had a great outcome!

The girl was in a coma (or similar state) for awhile but amazingly she recovered! The father was saying at one point he was going to give up trying to get her out from under the log because they'd been digging and digging for so long with no luck, but a friend who was helping screamed at him to keep going. Thank goodness they all kept working. Kids are so resilient.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

30. They were pushed!

Dude!

:tinfoilhat:

[Amaya]

31. people don´t respect nature

thinning the herd ... the circle of life.

[sfpcjock]

32. I don't think the sign "Vernal Falls -- A Few More Steps"

actually meant that. Very sad. It's probably bad shoes and bending the rules. The Boy Scouts were right: "be prepared".

[Duer 157099]

35. An exhilarating last few moments of life though

I mean, what a ride! I think I'd rather go out that way than in a sick bed in a hospital. But that's me.

[WinkyDink]

40. Do you imagine it like a waterslide instead of a hideous freefall banging onto rocks while drowning?

[Duer 157099]

50. Well, I didn't say I'd prefer this to, say, a waterslide

but rather, I'd prefer it to a long painful lingering death in a hospital bed.

I'd much rather go down a waterslide than either of those options, of course.

[jberryhill]

58. The first "bang" will put your lights out

Even if it's a glancing shot on the way down.

At some point the adrenaline from terror would induce euphoria anyway.

[WinkyDink]

67. Maybe I should take up flying agian.

[jberryhill]

75. If you do... use an aircraft

As the story demonstrates, taking up flying without using the proper equipment does not generally end well.

[cbdo2007]

49. Here is youtube video from a month ago of the falls....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQpHGO9CQf0


That is some FAST water. I'm guessing there is nothing exhilarating about it but hey, different strokes.

[Kingofalldems]

45. Has anyone ever survived Vernal Falls?

[Xithras]

48. Not possible.

Vernal isn't truly vertical, and the water hits the cliff face about halfway down. When it reaches the bottom of the falls, it slams into a huge pile of massive granite blocks that have fallen from the cliff above over the millenia. Anyone going over the falls that survives the plunge and impact with the cliff face will probably be killed when they hit the rocks at the bottom. If they could survive that impact, they'd immediately find themselves pinned against those rocks by the force of the water still hammering down on them, and would drown in seconds.

In theory, if you were able to push out on the lip of granite just as you were being swept over, you might be able to throw yourself out far enough to hit the pool just beyond the edge of the rocks. People have survived 300 foot cliff jumps before, but that water in the pool is only about 10 feet deep, and not very wide, so you would need an amazing bit of luck. It might be theoretically possile to survive it, but it's impossible from a practical standpoint, and nobody has ever managed to survive it.

Here's a photo of the bottom of Vernal Falls when the flow is lower later in the summer: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyhays/247219933/ The rocks are still mostly covered by water, but you can make out their outlines, and see how far you would have to jump in order to clear them.

[jberryhill]

59. Not in the downward direction, no /nt

[lonestarnot]

54. Reminds me of the ignorant fuckwads that climbed over the fence or whatever it was into the tiger

chamber and was eaten.

[Mendocino]

60. When I was in Zion last year

three people died in three days. Two guys drowned when they tried to float the Narrows on a log raft. Then a woman fell off of Scouts Landing.

These parks aren't Disneyland. I know that some rangers get burned out because they end up recovering a lot of dead bodies.

[begin_within]

77. I wouldn't go up the Angels Landing trail for a million bucks.

[shanti]

97. omg

what a photo! it makes me queasy just looking at it! sort of like pics of people climbing the half-dome cables.

[begin_within]

101. Then don't look at these pictures...

The notorious Half Dome cable route, which hundreds of people use every day...



This guy was lucky. He was rescued. But he laid there for 3 hours above a 2,000 foot drop.

[slackmaster]

81. It would be a shame to die that stupid

But a lot of people do.

[hedgehog]

82. Can I put my 2 cents in and remind people that the wilderness

doesn't start west of the Rockies?

Every so often, people get killed in one of New York State's parks. For example, the average person can climb Mt. Marcy, but it's also possible to get caught in an early fall or late spring snow storm near the top. Proper clothing is a must. Zoar Valley is only about an hour from downtown Buffalo, and it seems like every summer people were killed falling into the gorge.

[RSillsbee]

91. No, you may not

Hey , you shouldn't have asked :bounce:

[taterguy]

93. Thank you for that important reminder of something that's painfully obvious

:eyes:

[hedgehog]

95. If it was painfully obvious, people wouldn't do dumb things like climbing Mt. Marcy in blue jeans

and a t-shirt!

[taterguy]

100. They do that because they're fucking stupid, not due to lack of awareness of wilderness

Of course I attempted the Grand Canyon Rim to River and back in one day hike w/ no training or prep.

Fucking stupid behavior: West of the Rockies.

[shanti]

98. just recently

there was a woman who got pulled into the whirlpool at the bottom of niagara falls....and survived! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017532/The-moment-Niagara-Falls-tour-boat-captain-saves-woman-swept-whirlpool.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[kwassa]

102. I was caught on a mountain top in Yellowstone in a July snowstorm ...

Excuse me for not expecting it.

We were all in T shirts and shorts. Dark clouds rolled in, with lightning, which really scared on us on an exposed treeless mountain. We ran down the mountain, down a long shale-covered side, as the temperature dropped like a stone and snow flurries fell all around us.
We made it out without problems other than verging on hypothermia, which we fixed by jumping into thermal streams near our campsite, that were heated by runoffs from the geyser basins. These streams are the same temperature year round