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A visitor at Yosemite National Park reportedly fell to his death on Christmas Day, and the incident went unreported until now due to the ongoing government shutdown, a National Park Service spokesman said. “The incident remains under investigation, which is taking longer than usual because of the shutdown,” Andrew Muñoz, a public affairs officer for the National Park Service, told Outside Magazine Thursday. “A news release wasn’t issued because of the shutdown. We aren’t releasing more details.” NPS representatives did not respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment. (The NPS has said media lines would also be impacted by the shutdown.)...

Parts of California’s Yosemite National Park were forced to close after visitors began using the side of the road as a toilet. Bathrooms in the park haven’t been open since the partial shutdown of the federal government began on Dec. 22. Hetch Hetchy and Mariposa Grove were among the areas that closed “due to lack of restrooms and resulting impacts from human waste,” the park announced Sunday.

A spokesman for Yosemite said they are simply trying to meet the demands of visitorsNearly 23,000 people have signed a petition expressing "deep dissatisfaction" with the decision to open a Starbucks at Yosemite National Park. The Starbucks, which is slated to open this spring, would not be a freestanding store but rather part of a food court attached to Yosemite Lodge. Online protesters say they are concerned that the arrival of Starbucks at one of America's oldest and most venerable national parks would open the door to other big chains. A spokesman for Yosemite said they are simply trying to...

A husband and wife who fell to their deaths from a popular lookout at Yosemite National Park in the United States were taking a selfie, the man's brother says.

Taking a selfie against a dangerous background or in a frightening position is thrilling and it shows a bravery and courage in getting that next-to-impossible photo, that is until the photographer slips and falls off a mountain or tumbles down a cliff or is killed by a wild animal. >> Read more trending news The number of people willing to risk their life to get that perfect shot is an “emerging problem,” according to a new study on how many people have died in selfie-related accidents over the past few years. Researchers discovered that 259 people worldwide have lost their...

A teenager visiting Yosemite National Park from Jerusalem plunged to his death this week while reportedly trying to take a selfie at the park’s popular Nevada Fall. ... Multiple fatalities have been reported in the park this year. In May, a man died on Half Dome after he slipped and fell during a thunderstorm on the last 400 feet of the climb, where hikers grasp cables to scale the summit. According to the park service, most accidents there occur during wet conditions.

The Ferguson Fire in Yosemite National Park has jumped Hwy 41 in the Park. The fire is now headed toward Badger Pass Ski area, which is a fire base camp. There is only one road in and out of that area. The fire crews are now trapped and have to shelter in place. PLEASE pray for the safety of the fire crews at that location. They are in immediate danger. We have already lost two firefighters with this fire.

I’ll trade you a piece of Yosemite Valley and all of the Napa wine country for Disneyland and the Santa Monica Pier. For the first time since before the Civil War, California voters will decide this November whether to spilt the Golden State into three entities, dubbed California, Northern California and Southern California. An initiative to divide the state, pushed by Silicon Valley venture capital investor Tim Draper, received enough signatures to qualify it for the November ballot. Supporters say splitting the state would lead to improvements in infrastructure and education while lowering taxes.

Park officials said the climbers had been attempting to climb the Freeblast Route, according to a post on the Mariposa Gazette’s Facebook page. Authorities withheld the identities of the climbers pending notification of next of kin. The investigation was ongoing. Saturday’s incident came nearly two weeks after a hiker fell to his death while ascending the Half Dome trail during thunderstorm activity, officials said.

… during a thunderstorm. Rangers were notified and arrived on the scene to provide assistance to the second hiker. The hiker who fell did not survive and rangers recovered his body Tuesday. ... first fatality on the Half Dome cables since 2010, and the first time a visitor has died at the park this year.

"Heavy rain and melting snow flooded Yosemite Valley last weekend, covering some roads with four feet of water. Visitors were evacuated in advance. Turn up the volume and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience! (6:08 total)

A hunk of rock “the size of an apartment building” fell off the granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring another on a mountain at the height of climbing season, officials and witnesses said. At least 30 climbers were on the wall at the time, but it was not clear if the victims were climbers or tourists, ranger Scott Gediman said. “It was witnessed by a lot of people,” he said. ... Officials didn’t provide details on the size of the rock fall, but climbers posted pictures on social media from...

It took roughly four hours Saturday for rock climber Alex Honnold to make an ascent so dangerous no one has ever tried it before: scaling Yosemite’s El Capitan with no rope. Some called it a suicide mission. El Capitan is 3,000 feet of vertical granite, jutting straight to the sky. Many of its cracks are so small, they fit only one finger. “I mean, there are BASE-jumping stunts that require you to be ‘on’ for 20 seconds,” said Chris McNamara, a Lake Tahoe climber who spent many years diving and parachuting off giant rocks. “And then there’s tightrope-walking between the...

A 21-year-old woman died Sunday morning after a tree fell on her at Half Dome Village in Yosemite National Park, a park spokesperson said. The accident happened around 11 a.m. in the area, formerly known as Curry Village, spokesperson Scott Gediman said. No other information about the victim was released.

Highway 41 to Yosemite National Park is closed at Fish Camp, the California Highway Patrol and park officials reported Tuesday. Caltrans reported the roadway is closed eight-tenths of a mile south of the park at Summerdale Campground. The agency doesn’t project the roadway reopening until March 10. A washout Feb. 9 eroded the southbound shoulder of the highway, said Caltrans spokesman Cory Burkarth. Since then, Caltrans has had one-way traffic controls in place while agency workers inspected the roadway several times a day. On Tuesday morning, Caltrans workers noticed the northbound lane was starting to sink and banned tour buses...

On this day in 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation giving the Yosemite Valley and the nearby Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the state of California “upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort and recreation.” Championed by Sen. John Conness (R-Calif.), the so-called Yosemite Grant included the first parkland the federal government ever set aside for preservation and public use. It set a precedent for the creation of Yellowstone as the nation’s first national park in 1872. The legislation to bar commercial development in the park was drafted with the aid of the...

President Barack Obama used his visit to Yosemite National Park on Saturday to tout his administration’s environmental record and to warn Americans about the dangers of climate change — albeit with false information. “Fires are raging across the west right now … all while it’s still really early in the season,” he said in a speech at the park, according to the Los Angeles Times. Obama joins California Governor Jerry Brown in making a spurious connection between wildfires and climate change that scientists have long since rejected.

I can’t--or won’t--stop the increasing number of terrorist attacks that are taking place on my watch Father’s Day 2016 and you can depend on President Barack Hussein Obama finding the way to steal the show. Move aside all Father’s Day happy campers ‘cause Big Daddy’s here hogging the limelight. Count on Obama’s Father’s Day Selfie going viral tomorrow. Special: "Cocktail" Drink Could Finally Be The Alzheimer's Cure More frightening than running into bears will be seeing T-shirts emblazoned with the words, “Global Warming is a bigger killer than Islamic Terrorism Period and exclamation mark.

President Barack Obama wants more people to appreciate and visit America's national parks as the park system nears its 100th birthday in August. Obama and his family spent the night at Yosemite National Park in California after touring an underground cave on Friday at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. The president then gave a rousing speech at Yosemite that urged Americans to "get out into the great outdoors." He tapped Congress, thanking them for working to protect the parks.

Michael Peacher stared out at the sprawling Yosemite Valley, stretched out before him like a giant post card. Half Dome bathed in the early May morning sun. El Capitan sat stoically in the shifting shadows. But Peacher’s eyes were locked on Bridalveil Falls, roaring in the distance with a watery abandon. “Since 2011 we haven’t had any water whatsoever,” said Peacher, an avid kayaker. “Just been a horrible drought for the past four years.” California’s stifling drought got so bad Peacher moved to Washington where the rivers were full enough to kayak. But this winter, the rains returned to California...