Another Hiker Tumbles at Half Dome
By Rocky Thompson on June 15th, 2009
Two hikers have slipped and fallen while hiking the cabled route at Half Dome in the past week. One woman slid about 150 feet down the face before stopping on a ledge where search and rescue grabbed her, the other died in front of 30 witnesses when he plunged hundreds of feet to his death. The man slipped and fell on a day of rain and hail in the park, and the Yosemite staff says they can’t do much more than post signs warning about the extra danger in bad weather. About 50,000 hikers a year use the handrails to make their way up and down 8 miles to the 8,842ft summit, and the last death occurred in 2007.
via Two Heel Drive
I think the potential for danger in any wilderness area is what makes it “wild” and it’s also the reason why we love those places like Yosemite. How tragic would it be if we sterilized every cliff or crag with rails and safety nets, or built high fences to keep bears away, or regulated every entry into potentially dangerous zones. This would in effect civilize the very places we go to get away from civilization. It truly is sad what happened to the hikers who fell, but too many people treat the wilderness like an amusement park and it is anything but. A little bit of wisdom and caution goes a long way.