Aug. 29, 2012 Updated: 3:49 p.m.
Behind Yosemite's beauty, tragedy lurks
Yosemite National Park rangers aim to keep people safe, but visitors have to do their part.
By MICHAEL MELLO / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
YOSEMITE VILLAGE – Dig into an old photo album from a typical California family, and chances are good there are pictures of Yosemite National Park: poses in front of Half Dome, children dwarfed by giant sequoias, riverside picnics in Yosemite Valley.
While some portions of the central Sierra Nevada seem almost to revel in their solitude, Yosemite's superlative trees, granite monoliths and splashing waterfalls lure 3 million to 4 million pairs of curious eyes each year. Park surveys peg 70 percent of them coming from the Golden State, many of them urban dwellers yearning to temporarily swap housing tracts and malls for a visit to Mother Nature's living room.
There are no headlines written about the millions who leave the park each year with nothing more than dust on their shoes and maybe a few stray mosquito bites.
But understand: Tragedy lurks.
Article: http://www.ocregister.com/news/park-369926-yosemite-river.html
Merced River graphic: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/park-369926-yosemite-river.html?graphics
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2012 06:40PM by KenS.