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We were discussing the dangers of those falls on the Vernon Loop on this forum about the same time. Every few years there is another fatality.
The day he disappeared was the day I started my hike. I was passed by two guys heading for the bridge before I turned off to hike up out of the canyon. It is likely that I met him.
At the check in station and along the trail, I was told that the bridge was closed that day and that people needed to change their plans if they were planning to use it. I wonder if dayhikers got that message.
Apparently, the day he went over, the water was up to two feet deep on parts of the bridge.
“He was an outdoorsman,” Patterson said. “He understood the risk. But he was an explorer. He said if I ever die, ‘I want my ashes spread at Yosemite.’ He loved that place.”
I've crossed those bridge sections many times during high water. I've felt that I could be knocked down, but I never felt like I was going to be swept away.
I have crossed that bridge in high flows where the bridge was wet (but not 2 feet!). The planks are quite slippery, so if it is wet past the area where you have the guard rails to hang on to, you could easily slip. I think I would wear micro-spikes crossing in those conditions.
There are signs and railings at the top of Vernal Falls, and people still go over the rail and take selfies on the rocks and get swept down the falls. Anyone with an ounce of common sense can see that Wapama Falls at full flow is dangerous. What may help is to re-design the bridge with railings that extend further and a rough surface instead of wood.
It would also help if people didn't see other people taking their chances and succeeding. I'm sure folks skated through without issues before the guy tried to cross.
