A little over a week since the Oct. 1 shutdown of the federal government, videos and photos have surfaced on social media showing visitors to Yosemite National Park engaging in dangerous and illegal behaviors, including BASE jumping from El Capitan and climbing Half Dome’s cables without permits.
BASE jumping from the park’s majestic granite monoliths and illegal climbs up Half Dome’s famous cables aren’t anything new. The jumps have been happening since the 1960s, and in his more than 200 times summiting Half Dome, DeGrazio has regularly encountered hikers without permits who are hoping to score somebody’s extra along the trail.
“This is different,” DeGrazio said after viewing a brazen post in the Aspiring Half Dome Hikers Facebook group about an illegal ascent. “These people are counting on no enforcement because of the shutdown.”
A park employee, who spoke with SFGATE on the condition of anonymity to protect their job (which was granted in accordance with Hearst’s ethics policy), said they know of only one wilderness ranger working the entire park. And technically, that person is not even a ranger, the employee said, but a volunteer.
“There are lots of squatters in the campgrounds,” the employee told SFGATE. “There are lots of people that truly believe they can do whatever they want because of the lack of rangers. They’ve told us.”
In a video posted on YouTube on Tuesday, a narrator describes visiting the park during the shutdown and hiking Half Dome. “I had three extra permits, so these three people got picked up,” he says.
A later scene shows a line of nervous people stalled on the crowded Half Dome cables, with some hikers — including the cameraperson — ducking under the cables to skip ahead in line. Before 2010, scenes like this were common when there was no permit system to ascend Half Dome’s cables. It still happens sometimes at around 11 a.m. or noon, when many people arrive at the cables.
When four-time Half Dome climber and nurse Aaron Willits saw the aforementioned Facebook post in the Aspiring Half Dome Hikers Facebook group, he got angry. In the post, a woman describes how she did the hike with no permit hoping to get lucky and then found at the base of the cables — also known as “Sub Dome” — there was no ranger guarding them.
“Sadly, this gives hikers a bad name and frustrates the ones who do go through the proper channels and wait for a permit or who choose to follow the rules and do not hike at all,” Willits told SFGATE. “As a health care worker, it makes me sad that those who break the rules do not consider the potential danger you put others in who may need to rescue you or recover your body.”
During the shutdown, it’s unclear how many people are around to help out in emergencies. According to the Department of the Interior, activities considered necessary to “protect life and property” will continue, including law enforcement and emergency response, fighting wildfires, and the protection of federal property. But the plan also states that “emergency services will be limited” and directs park websites and social media accounts to communicate that information.
That warning seemingly hasn’t discouraged risky behavior in Yosemite, though. BASE jumping is known to be among the most dangerous of outdoor adventure sports, and it’s illegal in Yosemite and other national parks. In a video he posted on Instagram set to “Free Bird,” climber Charles Winstead revealed that practitioners are taking advantage of the lack of rangers.