Yosemite Hiker's Body Found

Discovery is likely waterfall victim Ramina Badal

(NEWSER) - Yosemite park rangers believe a grim find in the Merced River will allow them to close the books on one of the park's worst tragedies. A body discovered in the river is believed to be that of 21-year-old Ramina Badal, the third of three young hikers swept over a 317-foot waterfall last summer , AP reports. Another body found trapped under house-sized boulders last week has been identified as one of the victims. The bodies were likely found because the river is at its lowest level of the year. The first body was found in August, just weeks after the tragedy. More»

Bigger crowds, dangerously high rivers a bad combo

(NEWSER) - Last weekend's death of a hiker brings this year's Yosemite death toll to 14, more than double the typical number by this time of year. What's going on? The Los Angeles Times thinks two factors may be at play: bigger crowds and the winter's heavy snowfall. Last year was the first time 4 million visitors came to the park since 1996, and this year is on pace to match it. More»

Hiker Hayley LaFlamme was descending Half Dome

(NEWSER) - Less than two weeks after three hikers were swept over Vernal Fall , another woman has died at Yosemite National Park. Hayley LaFlamme, 26, had reached the Half Dome summit—a treacherous hike that can take as long as 12 hours to finish—and was descending Sunday when she reportedly lost her grip on the summit cables and plunged 600 feet down the steep, almost vertical, slope to her death. LaFlamme is the 14th person to die at the park this year, an especially deadly one for Yosemite, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . More»

(AP) - The National Park Service is looking to stimulate summer vacations, with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announcing today that entrance fees at 147 national parks and monuments—including the Grand Canyon and Yosemite—will be waived on three weekends this summer: June 20-21, July 18-19, and Aug. 15-16. “During these tough economic times, our national parks provide opportunities for affordable vacations for families," Salazar said. More»

Rangers warn that illicit, cartel-run plantations are on the rise

(NEWSER) - America's park rangers are battling a growing number of marijuana plantations taking root in national parks, NPR reports. Marijuana farms have been found in at least six national parks on the West Coast, where rangers say growers camp in the woods all summer, tending hidden plantations that can't be spotted from the air, and laying down irrigation hoses up to a mile long. More»