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Tracie Cone / AP
In this photo taken Thursday, May 26, 2011, Bridalveil Falls is seen in Yosemite National park. A historic Sierra Nevada snowpack is making Yosemite National Park's springtime spectacle of cascading waterfalls especially beautiful and dangerous.
For many travelers, last winter’s wild weather is a distant memory. Those heading to national parks in the American West, however, will see evidence of the season’s epic snowpack on roads, trails and scenery.
At Yosemite, near-record snows and warming temperatures are creating stunning waterfalls — and sporadic flooding. The snowpack in the Merced River drainage (i.e., the Yosemite Valley) is 199 percent of normal, according to park spokesman Scott Gediman.
“We’ve got water everywhere,” said Gediman. “Bridalveil Falls is huge; Yosemite Falls is huge. Even [seasonal] falls like Sentinel and Staircase are raging. It’s just spectacular.”
The flip side is that all the water has to go somewhere. “The rivers may look calm,” Gediman said, “but the current is very swift and the water is very cold.” That combination has already led to at least one fatality this year as a visitor on the steep trail to Vernal Falls slipped on wet rocks, fell into the Merced River and drowned.
Last winter’s deep snows are also presenting challenges at other national parks. At Rocky Mountain National Park, snowplow operators trying to clear Trail Ridge Road, the main route through the park, had to punch through drifts as high as 23 feet, spokesperson Kyle Patterson told msnbc.com.
After a long, hard winter, Yosemite National Park has come alive like never before. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
“They encountered the most snow they’ve seen this late in the season for 30 years,” she said. The road finally opened to the public on June 6, the latest opening since 1994.
Patterson cautions visitors that the conditions warrant extra vigilance: “Check the weather forecast before traveling and be aware of road conditions at high elevations.” Backcountry campers and hikers should be prepared for wet and heavy snow, fragile snow bridges and overhanging cornices.
Visitors should also expect to run into snow at higher elevations at national parks throughout the West in the coming weeks as well as continued closures of major roads. At press time, as-yet-unopened roads included Sunrise Road at Mt. Rainier National Park, most of Rim Drive at Crater Lake National Park, and sections of Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
The snow may be an inconvenience for some, but others enjoy the striking contrast. “This is a beautiful time of year,” said Patterson. “Blue skies and high peaks with a lot of snow — it’s pretty dramatic right now.”
Other stories you might like:
- Yosemite tries to outsmart reservation scalpers
- Heed the call of the wild for less
- Glamping: the cure for the common camping trip
Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.
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The person who was killed at Yosemite was Dr. Kent Butler. He was a professor of Community and Regional Planning at The University of Texas. Besides making significant contributions to the careers of the many students he teached, he left a legacy of environmental stewardship that has greatly benefited the Central Texas region. He was also one of the nicest people I have ever known. I hope that protections have been put in place to ensure this type of tragic accident won't happen again.
A good eulogy and a great person I'm sure. But I for one hope no protections have been put in place. National forest, not national amusement park.
I'm sure he was a wonderful person, based on the description of his fall location (vernal falls), it can be assumed he was taking the Mist Trail up to the top of Vernal, which is essentially a granite staircase carved into the rock weaving back and forth around the falls. The trail is called the mist trail because the waterfall mists the entire granite basin, including the trail. Based on the amount of water the falls are pumping right now, the trail is likely to be even more slippery than usual. There are, however, multiple signs warning of the dangers of the slippery, wet granite rocks. This tragedy is similar to slipping off any hiking trail. No safeguards can prevent these, unfortunately, unless you were to erect fencing on either side of the trail the entire length (although, at vernal, it would be a railing). This would ruin the nature aspect of these nature trails. Our hearts go out to the family of Dr. Butler.
As a learned Dr. and a regional planner, maybe he should have known a little better. Just got back from a trip to Alabama Hills, and while there aren't any raging water falls, it would seem common sense to not disregard the warning signs. Please, Please, do not put up railings and fencing any where near these falls. Checking in with the Visitors Centers is always a good start. Ask questions, such as how dangerous, how strenuous, weather conditions now, and several hours later too. Sorry for the good Doctors demise, but don't spoil these great natural treasures with fences and railings.
People need to remember that going out into the woods is a dangerous thing. It is fine to enjoy the views and that is what we go for but you still need to pay attention to what you are doing 100% of the time. As the poster above stated it is not an amusement park. To many people get lax out there and you then read about it later. There are ways to walk in the woods like falling forward up a trail or making sure you fall on your backpack when going downhill and these tricks save your life.
And dh you talk about College and you say he teached his students. Please, he taught his students. I normally don't say anything but you wrote it almost as a eulogy.
"Epic" is overused and tired. Please find a new adjective.
Dare I suggest --- Ice Age ? Snow Pack...
Climate change takes this direction
bicfj
Actually, it appears the ice ages were caused not so much by increased snowfall, but by cooler summers that limited melting. Likewise the current global warming trend will will probably have more dristic effects through melting the snow faster, rather than changing the overall amounts.
I think flooding in the future is more of a problem with the melting ice. They say that alot of the lower lying areas around the World will be gone in years to come. This will also have an effect on the salting of drinking water.
Just keep pouring that CO2 into the air.
Wish I could make it out there to see those waterfalls. Too bad it would cost an arm, a leg, and 1.5 kidneys to drive out there...
I just got back from Glacier National Park. We go there every year in early June and I've never seen snow-pack like this year. However...as usual.... The Park was marvelous. Truly a slice of heaven on earth.
I live about 30 miles from Glacier National Park. It is beautiful even from our house. The snow capped mountains and the blue sky. This is truely big sky country. Even with the Going to the Sun road still closed it's worth the trip
I live in Wyoming and we have had massive amounts of snow and rain-ever since it stopped snowing, it has been raining! We are at over 200% for snow pack. We are going to Yellowstone again in about 3 weeks and we are looking forward to hopefully great thermal activity(i.e. geysers, bubbling mud pots, etc) but also to seeing the Lower Falls running at full volume and the creeks and rivers full. Yellowstone is amazing whether there is a huge snow pack or not, well worth the trip.
I don't live near Yellowstone or Yosemite, but I do live in Utah and we have one ski resort that is staying open on the weekends until July, unless weather conditions change and makes skiing dangerous. There is a upside and down side to all of these and Utah has seen both, good ski season, but with the rivers so full and running so fast there has been 3 children who have died.
Let's hope for a calm summer so we don't see anymore deaths.
I agree with the no more deaths. But people have to know that if the water appears to be going fast, it is actually going way more fast than your thinking. Why in the Hell, would a parent let their children get any where near record run-off water in a river? Sad, tragic, yes, but avoidable, absolutely. Common sense does not seem to exist anymore. You would have had to have lived in a cave to not know that the conditions this past winter were record breaking and the rivers would be raging. God Bless The World, God Bless America!!!
I just look at parents in this state as a whole and know that common sense is as dead as dinosaurs. We are really living in sad times these days.
Climate change not global warming !! And if you can't see it mabe you'd better pull your head ....
It's not the snowpack or abundance of water causing deaths, it's the (poor) choices of humans. :(
I would rather not agree with that statement, but I can't. It is the damned truth BumbleBeeJ. Hmmm, record snow pack, and the water seems to be raging. Hey, let's go swimming!!! Famous last words there... It is tragic if a child dies, especially since the adult should have known better, but it is 100% avoidable, follow the guidelines, ask the experts, read the daily info provided for FREE, get a map, follow the obvious rules, don't feed the bears......
Its just weather folks. Always has, always will. Adapt.
Send that water to Arizona and NM! We REALLY need it!
Here in Colorado with Snow pack exceeding 200% of normal, we are expecting a large number of rafting, kayaking and hiking fatalities and injuries.
If you are thinking of taking up these sports or have some experience please consider waiting until August or September.
Kayakers, knowing the Eskimo roll is hardly enough experience for this runoff. Even veteran class5 kayakers may decide not to take too many chances.
Rafters, make sure your river guides are well qualified, if going alone, with less than certifiable skills, please don't!
Hikers, careful on snowfields, and stay away from cliff edges that have any snow on them!
I'm just trying to help limit the tragedies that are sure to happen during this runoff.
Colorado is especially beautiful this season, please come and enjoy it !
Good old fashioned common sense still works.
Thanks DW Brown. As simply as you put it, it is really that simple. Record run-off water doesn't distinguish that you may be a an expert or some local yokel trying to show off. If it appears like it is moving kind of fast, it is moving really fast, if it appears to moving really fast, it is hauling A$$ and you can't out swim it no matter how good you are. USE COMMON SENSE PEOPLE!!!
Unbelievable. In 2007 the man-made global warming alarmists said that we might never experience snow again, and that we would go through such prolonged droughts that there would be mass starvation. We have had the complete opposite to occur, so now the man-made global warming alarmists have completely changed their weather predictions to fall in line with what is actually occurring, and still calling it man-made global warming. Sick and funny, but it worked, the mind-numb robots who watch the mainstream media are always re-born each morning with no memory of past statements or history, and just go with whatever the so-called news spits out each morning.
Common sense prevails EVERY time.
tomorrow am i'm going to the east entrance of yosemite(road is cleared but gate is down) skiing up near mt. dana, camping in a snowcave/tarp combo, then summitting and skiing all day sunday. probably won't see another person. i LOVE the snow!
somehow the reporter missed Yellowstone NP. The lingering snowpack there exceeds anyone's living memory, as it does in the surrounding Absaroka Range of NW Wyoming at my doorstep.
Record snowfall has nothing to do with record droughts across the Western U.S. Arizona, texas, New Mexico, Colorado still seeing record droughts. With this has come record forest fires this year.
This snow may replenish the Colorado river but it is not enough to sustain life out West for Las Vegas and Los Angeles' toilets and swimming pools --which is the destination of most of this snowmelt.
Dina Kim you remind me of Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma making snowmen on the Capitol lawn that read "GLOBAL Warming??" on Capitol Hill last winter during record snowfalls. THe weather events lately, either, cold or hot, are not normal. You can ask your grandparents on that!
Weather patterns are getting more extreme in the US and the winter in the south is getting shorter. I can tell you that.