Third Drowning At Sequoia National Park This Year

Above, the Kaweah River in Sequoia National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A 26-year-old woman drowned last evening after falling into a creek in Sequoia National Park.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

A 26-year-old woman has died after falling into a creek in Sequoia National Park, the third drowning in the park this year, authorities said Sunday. 

The incident occurred Saturday evening when the woman fell into Silliman Creek near the Twin Lakes Trail and was subsequently swept downstream, according to the National Park Service. 

The woman’s identity has not been released. 

Record high temperatures in the region coupled with rapidly melting snow in mountain areas is causing swift, cold and dangerous river conditions, park officials warned.

To read more, go here. 

Snowmelt In Western States Turning Deadly

Above, Yosemite's Tenaya Creek in 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

High and swift running rivers in Yosemite National Park and elsewhere in the western United States from record snowmelt are turning deadly to visitors.

The Daily Mail (U.K.) reported:

Massive waterfalls in Yosemite National Park and rivers raging in mountains throughout the western United States are thundering with greater force than they have for years - and proving deadly as warm weather melts the deepest mountain snowpack in recent memory. 

Record snowfall on towering Western peaks this winter virtually eliminated California's five-year drought and it is now melting rapidly. 

But it has contributed to at least 14 river deaths and prompted officials to close sections of rivers popular with swimmers, rafters and fishing enthusiasts. 

In Utah and Wyoming, some rivers gorged by heavy winter snowfall have overflown their banks and rivers in Utah are expected to remain dangerously swollen with icy mountain runoff for several more weeks. 

The sheer beauty of the rivers is their draw - and represents a big danger to people who decide to risk selfies near the water or beat the heat by swimming or rafting with little awareness of the risks posed by the raging water. 

This year's velocity and force of the Merced River that runs through Yosemite Valley is similar to a runaway freight train, said Moose Mutlow of the Yosemite Swift Water Rescue Team. 

'You step out in front of it, it's going to take you,' he said. 

To read more, go here.

Tales of Adventure In Malibu: Tragedy Averted

Sometimes I have to wonder about some parents.

Yesterday evening, I was doing a routine foot patrol at the swimming pool area of one of the gated communities I patrol in Malibu.

There was a party of about 20-25 people at the bar-b-que area which is located at the southwest corner of the pool area. As I was walking along the east side of the pool, I noticed a baby crawling from a grassy area and headed towards the swimming pool.

As I approached, I checked around to see if anyone was watching him. Nobody was. The baby was crawling pretty fast and was headed directly to the swimming pool's southeast (about 30 yards from the bar-b-que area). [He is nine months old, I later found out.] I was still watching him and scanning the area to see if someone was going to come fetch him. Seeing that nobody was going to (the people at the bar-b-que were oblivious), I reached down and picked him up just as he got to about five inches of the edge of the pool.

After picking him up, I yelled to the people at the bar-b-que area, "Whose baby is this?" Everyone looked up with stunned looks on their faces. The baby's mother then came over and I handed him over to her. I then headed towards the exit gate and looked back and noticed the mother (without the baby) looking distraught and dashing towards the clubhouse.

I proceeded out and went to my patrol vehicle to get my incident report written up.

About an hour later, I returned to the clubhouse/pool area and the mother of the baby approached me in the parking lot and profusely thanked me. She said that she was busy eating and cutting up food and forgot about the baby. She said that after I gave him to her, it suddenly hit her that a tragedy had just been averted and she broke down and had to go to the ladies' room in the clubhouse.

I told her it only takes a few seconds for a baby to drown. According to a website of a company specializing in perimeter pool fences:

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths to children ages 14 and under. It can happen in a matter of seconds - in the time it takes to answer the phone. There is often no splashing to warn of trouble. Children can drown in small quantities of water and are at risk in their own homes from wading pools, bathtubs, buckets, diaper pails, and toilets, as well as swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs.

The statistics are frightening. Each year in the United States, 1,150 children (ages 14 and under) drown - more than half of these children are preschoolers (ages 0-4). An estimated 5,000 children (ages 14 and under) are hospitalized due to near-drownings, and of children surviving near-drownings, 5-20 percent suffer severe and permanent disability.

This time, we were lucky!