Yosemite Death Toll Soars

On Sunday, 26-year-old Haley LaFlamme fell to her death while descending the granite Half Dome during a thunderstorm, marking 2011 as an anomaly in Yosemite's recent history. Fourteen people have died at the national park so far this year, though the usual numbers are five or six deaths by the end of July, and 12 to 15 by the end of the year. While the death count might be attributed to a surge in visits or troublesome water levels, a park spokeswoman pinpointed a more specific reason: "A lot of people who are coming to the park aren't familiar with nature and don't understand the implication of their actions," she told the L.A. Times.