[Seaplaner]

As a very young man, and IIRC, my Dad and I backpacked into a place called Rattlesnake Creek. (No serpents to be found, btw.)

And, as an aside...

I have hiked the Mist Trail several times, and loved every minute.

As told to me by a Ranger, the Mist Trail is the most hazardous of the many, many hiking trails in Yosemite. The biggest reason? Fools (there is no other descriptive) choose to swim in the quiet-looking fore-ponds to the Vernal and Nevada waterfalls.

My most recent hike on the trail, some years back, I noticed lots of divers looking for bodies beneath Vernal Falls.

[gracie1]

Yes, I remember that. Some young people made the mistake to swim in the pool and were swept over the falls. It was a shame. But it shows that one should always respect nature.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

There’s a book called “Off the Wall: Death at Yosemite” that’s basically a catalog of everyone who ever died of other than natural causes in the park. One of the big takeaways is that the deaths are overwhelmingly males between 18 and 25 doing stupid things.