You should check out this article in the San Francisco Chronicle a few weekends ago called “DANGER ON THE DOME“. It’s all about the climbing culture of Yosemite‘s Half Dome and how the famous rock has become so absurdly popular that a wait to ascend may take over an hour.
The Park Service does what it can to reduce crowds, or not, but it seems that there are just too many adrenaline junkies out there who want to do it. You can check out some of the interesting facts at the end that provide info on deaths in the park. Interestingly, it seems people are more likely to die in water accidents…say falling through ice or something. Probably just a product of the much larger numbers in the park these days. Wow.