Dear forum readers and lovers of Yosemite --
I need your help understanding something. I am an intermediate hiker who has long dreamed of going to Yosemite. This week, however, I am in shock over the loss of a very well-respected teacher from my hometown, a tireless advocate for the preservation of our natural spaces, who died in the accident at Mist Trail last weekend.
My question tonight, as I search for answers (to the unanswerable, of course), is: Why is there no rope or chain line along the edge of the lower Mist Trail steps, if one misstep on them means certain death?
From my research (which also led me to this site), it's clear this is not the first time this has happened to a healthy, intelligent person. Wouldn't such a precaution help reduce the chance that a very minor mistake of foot placement by a fairly seasoned and physically able hiker would not result in a tragic fall?
I am struggling to understand this. I understand the cost of foolishness, of impatience, of hubris; I understand that the stories of people charging up the Half Dome in the rain are stories of people thumbing their nose at Fate, and often paying dearly for it.
But the accident that happened last weekend was not in that category. We are all human. We make mistakes. Some big ones, but often very minor ones. I think we have a duty to ensure that, wherever possible, a very minor mistake does not result in a tragic death.
And it seems to me we owe it to that man and his family and community, and to legacy of his life's work -- and to the families of the other visitors who have died in a similar way, in that same area -- to do what we can to make that stretch of trail safer in whatever way possible.
I feel certain something simple could be done without ruining the beauty of that spot. And even if -- as was suggested in one article -- this was the case of someone stepping aside slightly to allow someone to pass, a guard rope would help discourage that maneuver, and would also provide something to grab ahold of if you lost footing, as so commonly happens (from what I have read online) with even the best of shoes and most careful of hikers.
Perhaps there is a rope line there and I just can't see it in the photos, but I only see one on the upper parts of the trail in the photos. There, the risk is obvious: a drop off a sheer cliff. On a 45-degree slope by the river, perhaps the risk is less apparent. But isn't the risk in each spot the same, and the consequences of one bad step the same, in certain conditions (which happen annually)?
I appreciate any thoughts you have on this. I've really been feeling tonight that this is not just sad, and heartbreaking, it's wrong. Does a popular hike, well-promoted online and in guidebooks (with the requisite two-sentence warning about footing), in our premier national park, have to be such a roll of the dice?
If it is that way, period, more dire warnings are clearly needed, with specific examples of past tragedies and exactly how they happened. If not, something should be done to give people like my fellow Austinite at least a fighting chance in that stretch of the trail when something goes suddenly wrong.
Thank you,
cws