Читать книгу 50 Best Short Hikes: Yosemite National Park and Vicinity онлайн

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Avoiding dangers: During the spring, summer, and fall months, Yosemite is a fairly benign location, with mostly pleasant weather. However, there are environmental hazards of which you should be aware. Most injuries to park visitors occur because visitors ignore or are not familiar with warning messages issued by Mother Nature. Below is a brief overview on how to avoid common dangers.

CLIFFS AND WATERFALLS Cliffs and steep granite slabs occur throughout Yosemite, including along many of the trails described in this book. There is nothing inherently dangerous about any of the hikes described, but poor judgment can take you too close to an escarpment. There are many drop-offs and unfenced (or poorly fenced) vista points, so don’t clown around near an edge. Don’t step forward or backward while staring through a camera viewfinder (or at a camera screen). And if you feel uneasy about the terrain you are on, turn around.

The tops of waterfalls require special attention, for the water-polished rock upstream of a waterfall is exceptionally slick, even when dry. People have slipped on this rock and slid into the watercourse and over the edge. Many have swum in the water upstream of the falls, been caught by an unexpectedly strong current, and been pulled over the falls. For this reason Emerald Pool, at the top of Vernal Fall, was closed to swimmers in the 1990s.