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Tech Note: Hot Key Fever

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lawhawk5/08/2013 7:52:54 am PDT

Holy frak.

Yet another hiker fell to their death at Yosemite near Vernal Falls.

Kenneth Stensby, 73, of Edina, Minnesota, left a note with the concierge of his hotel on Sunday saying he was going to the top of Vernal Fall and planned to return around noon, officials said. The hotel staff contacted rangers around 5 p.m. when Stensby had not yet returned.

Park officials conducted a search on foot with a dog team and a California Highway Patrol helicopter, and Stensby’s body was found at the base of the 317-foot waterfall around 6 p.m. Monday, the release said. It was recovered Tuesday afternoon.

Three California hikers died in 2011 when they were swept over Vernal Fall after climbing over a guardrail into the Merced River about 25 feet away from the waterfall.

We were just there a couple of weeks ago. The Mist Trail was closed when we were there because of ice and potential landslides/rockfall, so we didn’t get all the way to the top of the falls though a few people thought they knew better than the NPS and decided to try for the falls anyways.