A waterfall is simply a river pouring over a cliff and smashing onto the rocks below. The awesome spectacle blinds mere humans to the reality that a waterfall can kill with the efficiency of a white shark and the caprice of a lightning strike.
I’m not writing this only because of today’s headlines about three people swept over a waterfall yesterday. I’m also writing because of the guy who fell to his death at Stone Mountain State Park over Fourth of July weekend.
My heart goes out to the survivors of these poor folks, because as if the tragedy of their deaths is not bad enough, there is the unmistakable fact that all of them were 100 percent preventable. It’s not like they were hit by rogue waves or swept away by sudden tsunamis.
All they had to do was read the warning signs and enjoy the splendor from afar, like everybody else who soaked up the view and survived.
Normally I’d say that the grief of mourning friends and family requires decorum, decency, understanding — and no finger-pointing — from everybody else.
But dammit I’m just sick of this. The waste.
Nothing in nature is worth getting killed over. When you see a waterfall, you should think grizzly bear. Amazing to gaze upon from a healthy remove, but perfectly willing to take your last breath without batting and eyelash.
Waterfalls don’t care about your hopes, your kids, your wife. They simply do what they do and take everything — and everybody — right over the edge with them.
If these were your loved ones, please accept my apologies and condolences. I know the pain you’re going through, and the anger and everything else. It’s unbearable.
All I can say is I hope that writing this helps prevent similar tragedies down the road.
Seriously, you can’t tell people this enough. I live just outside the Smoky Mountains National Park and my oldest son, who is on the local volunteer fire dept., has had to respond to calls for people who’ve decided that, despite the signs posted to indicate the danger, to play in the falls and got in over their heads. I feel bad for the families that have to suffer through times like these, vacations are supposed to be happy, relaxing, and enjoyable times.
Well, I read the article. The three climbed over the guardrail to go into the Merced River. There’s a reason for that guardrail.
There are hundreds of miles of trail in Yosemite. Why didn’t they hike other trails?
Maybe a few just have to be lost to remind everybody else to be careful. Maddening, but that seems to be how it works.
Really sad news! People should be more careful. We can’t nature’s activity but can avoid accident by taking preventive measures.
Your grizzly bear was a perfect analogy. Just back from Glacier NP and have had grizzlies on my mind. I think many people just do not seriously consider their own death in such situations, irregardless of the warnings. Ever since I read a book called I think “Deep Survival” several years ago, I do give real consideration to the possibility and consequences of my death or both of our deaths when we face something like crossing an icy snow slope.
Deep Survival is a great book – sobering because it reveals how many times people who knew better still succumbed to a combination of momentary poor judgment and bad luck.