1 boy dead, 1 missing in Yosemite on Merced River
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1 boy dead, 1 missing in Yosemite on Merced River
- The Fresno Bee
Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 | 09:41 AM
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A 10-year-old boy is dead and a 6-year-old boy is
missing after they were swept down the Merced River in Yosemite National
Park on Wednesday.
The accident happened near the Vernal Fall footbridge, just below the falls where three people were swept to their deaths last summer.
A Southern California family group began a hike from Happy Isles Trailhead in Yosemite Valley and stopped near the footbridge about 3 p.m. Wednesday. The group was in the river when the boys were carried off by the current.
The 10-year-old was pulled from the river about 150 yards away and CPR was started by a park visitor. Rangers continued the resuscitation efforts but the boy was pronounced dead.
The names of the boys have not been released.
The accident happened near the Vernal Fall footbridge, just below the falls where three people were swept to their deaths last summer.
A Southern California family group began a hike from Happy Isles Trailhead in Yosemite Valley and stopped near the footbridge about 3 p.m. Wednesday. The group was in the river when the boys were carried off by the current.
The 10-year-old was pulled from the river about 150 yards away and CPR was started by a park visitor. Rangers continued the resuscitation efforts but the boy was pronounced dead.
The names of the boys have not been released.
Yosemite visitor dies from rare virus, another infected
The bridge is a vantage point on the Mist Trail where Vernal
Fall first comes into view. Last summer, three friends from the Modesto
area were swept to their deaths while cooling off in a pool above the
fall -- the most notable deaths in a tragic year that saw six drownings
in the park.
The Merced River runs through the heart of Yosemite Valley, and the Mist Trail to the fall is one of the most popular and sometimes perilous hikes in the park. Vernal Fall drops 317 feet to a narrow gorge filled with boulders the size of cars, then descends another 400 feet by the time it reaches the footbridge. Even when the rest of the river is moving slowly, the drop in elevation and narrow channel cause the water to move swiftly.
The boys were part of a group of about 15 extended family members who made the short hike to the bridge, park spokesman Scott Gediman said.
"We've got a low-water year this year, and around the banks it's only 8 to 10 inches deep, but once you get out further we have a swift current and it gets deeper," Gediman said. "They both got swept away by the current."
A 57-year-old man drowned two weeks ago in the Merced River when he was pinned under a rock, and another person died in June on the South Fork of the river near the Wawona area on the south end of the park.
In July 2011, Hormiz David, 22, of Modesto and friends Ninos Yacoub, 27 of Turlock and Ramina Badal, 21, of Manteca climbed past a protective railing at the edge of Vernal Fall, got caught in the cold and fast-moving river and were swept over the edge.
Also last year, two Yosemite visitors died in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir on June 29, and a hiker fell into the Merced River near the Mist Trail and died May 13.
The Merced River runs through the heart of Yosemite Valley, and the Mist Trail to the fall is one of the most popular and sometimes perilous hikes in the park. Vernal Fall drops 317 feet to a narrow gorge filled with boulders the size of cars, then descends another 400 feet by the time it reaches the footbridge. Even when the rest of the river is moving slowly, the drop in elevation and narrow channel cause the water to move swiftly.
The boys were part of a group of about 15 extended family members who made the short hike to the bridge, park spokesman Scott Gediman said.
"We've got a low-water year this year, and around the banks it's only 8 to 10 inches deep, but once you get out further we have a swift current and it gets deeper," Gediman said. "They both got swept away by the current."
A 57-year-old man drowned two weeks ago in the Merced River when he was pinned under a rock, and another person died in June on the South Fork of the river near the Wawona area on the south end of the park.
In July 2011, Hormiz David, 22, of Modesto and friends Ninos Yacoub, 27 of Turlock and Ramina Badal, 21, of Manteca climbed past a protective railing at the edge of Vernal Fall, got caught in the cold and fast-moving river and were swept over the edge.
Also last year, two Yosemite visitors died in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir on June 29, and a hiker fell into the Merced River near the Mist Trail and died May 13.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/08/16/2954308/1-boy-dead-1-missing-in-yosemite.html#storylink=cpy
I have been hiking this trail since I was 15 in 1963 and I still love it. However, it is not for anyone who doesn't fully understand the risks. The river is always running very fast and if you go in over about 1 foot above this bridge it will take your feet out from under you even if you are a young adult or adult because of the speed of the river. Also, if you go up on top of Vernal Falls, 3 people died at one time last year because they went out past the railing. Though it looks fairly safe past the railing to the average risk taker, the problem is that snow melt often melts in waves and so the level of river water going over the falls one minute might rise up a foot or so without warning and flip you so you are washed over the falls. So, what is seems safe one minute is fatal the next.
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