> Fewer injuries on that hike mean fewer taxpayer dollars spent rescuing fools and unfortunates from it. And fewer deaths. The real death toll for Half Dome is much higher if you include all the people who died on the trail heading for it. 70+ people dead, a dozen per day injured, all because people think this is something they NEED to do. The permits have cut the daily injury rate down significantly.
By that logic, they should cut the number of permits to zero. And take out the Mist Trail. And close the park to automobiles -- all those accidents, you know. That is unfortunately the mentality of some park administrators, and the result is this proposal. The result is fewer and fewer people are given access to the wilderness. At some point, you reach a critical point, where few people are left who even support wilderness.
There was actually a plan to close the valley floor to automobiles, or so it was rumored.
The issue remains - Half Dome is head and shoulders above the rest of the park in terms of incidents on the trail and fatalities related to it. In terms of hiking incidents, there is no equal (except perhaps Whitney) and there is no question - something needs to be done about it.
It has nothing to do with the wilderness at large. People act like Half Dome is the best place in the park, the only thing they want to do - if they don't get that golden ticket to go up it I've had folks tell me they cancelled their Yosemite vacation. That's the real shame - people focus so much on the single location that they are blind to the wonders of the rest of the perfectly accessible dayhiking opportunities out there.
I was called out for three searches last year - one of them was a mutual aid in Yosemite. Not sure what the figures are for the rest of the mountain range for SAR activity but I doubt they can compete with the number of injuries on the Half Dome Hike.
