I hate coincidences
A couple of years ago while visiting Yellowstone Park, we bought a book called 'Death in Yellowstone'. This was mostly for the benefit of our bloodthirsty young, though I also read the whole thing and promptly got a little paranoid about taking a dip in 200 F hot springs. I even spoke sharply to a dumb young woman I saw standing on the overhanging crust of a steaming pool for a photo op. Hey, I'm a mom -- the human variety. I actually give a shit about the welfare of stupid strangers. I also have no interest whatsoever in getting MY sightseeing in a awesome natural place ruined by witnessing someone else's agonized maiming or death, thanksverymuch.
Well, yesterday at the library I spotted a book called 'Death in Yosemite'. I could guess what one of the main hazards at THAT park would be, and I was right -- it's slipping down the waterfalls. Some people just can't resist the thrill of rock-hopping on wet glacier-polished granite swept by a powerful snow-melt current a few feet from a sheer 300-foot drop. Funny about that.
This is close to home, literally. We live in reasonable driving distance of Yosemite; some years back, we took the hike up to Vernal and Nevada Falls, a popular trail. Although there are explicit warning signs and a long, high steel railing, we witnessed at least two dumb young men bypassing all of that to try to peer directly over the falls despite a record flow level in the river. People shouted at them and they eventually retreated. (See, I'm not the only aggrieved spectator who doesn't 'mind her own business' when her view of natural splendors is about to get permanently spoiled.) But about a month after our trip, someone took the plunge at Vernal right on cue. Gaah.
So -- after looking over the entire list of those who have perished off the brink of Yosemite's beautiful and lethal falls, this morning I opened the paper to discover that THREE twenty-somethings had done themselves in at Vernal Falls in front of a horrified crowd of hikers who had been warning them to get the hell behind the railing. Two posing for a picture, both slip, one tries to rescue them. I think this is a single-incident record for Vernal.
It's not the log chute at Six Flags, people. It's Big Mama Nature doing what she does, and unlike your grieving parents, she does not care.
Well, yesterday at the library I spotted a book called 'Death in Yosemite'. I could guess what one of the main hazards at THAT park would be, and I was right -- it's slipping down the waterfalls. Some people just can't resist the thrill of rock-hopping on wet glacier-polished granite swept by a powerful snow-melt current a few feet from a sheer 300-foot drop. Funny about that.
This is close to home, literally. We live in reasonable driving distance of Yosemite; some years back, we took the hike up to Vernal and Nevada Falls, a popular trail. Although there are explicit warning signs and a long, high steel railing, we witnessed at least two dumb young men bypassing all of that to try to peer directly over the falls despite a record flow level in the river. People shouted at them and they eventually retreated. (See, I'm not the only aggrieved spectator who doesn't 'mind her own business' when her view of natural splendors is about to get permanently spoiled.) But about a month after our trip, someone took the plunge at Vernal right on cue. Gaah.
So -- after looking over the entire list of those who have perished off the brink of Yosemite's beautiful and lethal falls, this morning I opened the paper to discover that THREE twenty-somethings had done themselves in at Vernal Falls in front of a horrified crowd of hikers who had been warning them to get the hell behind the railing. Two posing for a picture, both slip, one tries to rescue them. I think this is a single-incident record for Vernal.
It's not the log chute at Six Flags, people. It's Big Mama Nature doing what she does, and unlike your grieving parents, she does not care.