Hiker falls to her death in Yosemite National Park

by Kraig Becker on

Over this past weekend, a hiker in Yosemite National Park fell to her death while descending from Half Dome, one of the park’s more iconic landmarks. This latest fatality is the 14th this year in Yosemite, a park that is amongst the most popular in the entire U.S. system.

According to this report from the Associated Press, early in the day Sunday, 26-year old Haley LaFlamme and three of her companions set out to hike the Half Dome trail, one of the best known treks in the entire park. As the morning progressed, a surprise thunderstorm moved into the area, bringing steady rains and dangerous lightning along with it. That treacherous combination of weather caused the group to turn back, and as they were making their way down the slick granite face of Half Dome, Haley slipped, falling 600 feet to her death on the rocks below. A 911 call was immediately placed to the ranger station, but by the time they reached the site of the accident it was too late.

When she fell, LaFlamme was negotiating the Half Dome cables, which are put in place each year to aid climbers with the steeper sections of the hike. That area of the trail can be challenging on a typical day, but when the rock becomes wet, it can be especially treacherous. Another hiker fell to his death on the same section back in 2009.

The high number of deaths in the park this year are due in no small part because of heavy snows that fell across the western United States this past winter. The region saw some of the highest accumulations of snow ever, and the powder stayed on the ground well into the spring. When it finally did begin to melt off, it caused Yosemite’s rivers and streams to rise dramatically, catching some visitors by surprise. Two weeks ago, three people were swept to their deaths over Vernal Falls, when they misjudged the depth and strength of the water there.

It is sometimes easy to forget just how dangerous the outdoors can be, especially when you’re in a national park that has so many great resources right at your fingertips. Stories like this one are a sobering reminder for us to be cautious and aware when we’re in these beautiful wilderness settings.

Awesome Michigan lip dubs: Four reasons to visit the ‘Great Lakes State’

by Annemarie Dooling on

Sure, we’ve been occasionally lured-in to visit a new destination due to a cheeky tourism campaign, or two — guilty as charged. There’s nothing as reassuring, though, as seeing the citizens of a city band together to proclaim to the world, ‘hey world, my city is great!’ And we can’t help but notice the chutzpah overflowing in the state of Michigan.

Over the last year Michigan‘s citizens, students and seniors have pulled out their video cameras and uploaded tourism video after tourism video to YouTube in an effort to show their pride. There are four in total so far, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Grand Valley State University and the Clark Retirement Community, and it doesn’t exactly matter whether the videos follow the antics of a classroom full of a students, a building full of the witty elderly or an entire city, they all bring a special brand of magic you can only find in the hearts of people that truly love the place where they live and love to dance about it.

Call us gullible, but we’ve added a tour of Michigan to the bucket list, if not only to share a beer with the enthusiastic townsfolk that fill that state with so much love.

The residents of the Clark Retirement Community in Grand Rapids teamed-up with students at GVSU to create the world’s first-ever all-senior lip dub.


Over in Traverse City, townsfolk rocked out to Paul Simon’s “You can Call Me Al” and Van Halen’s “Jump.”

GVSU might have created the original Michigan lip dub last October, which a student quickly submitted to Reddit.


Grand Rapids is currently Michigan’s king of lip dubs, holding the world record of 5,000 participants in one video, parading through the closed-off streets of the Downtown area.

Exclusive video: Archaeologists discover 17th century shipwreck believed to be from Captain Morgan fleet

by McLean Robbins on



Archaeologists have discovered the wreckage of a 17th century ship they believe to be from the famed Captain Henry Morgan’s fleet, lost off the coast of Panama in 1671.

The shipwreck was found on the Lajas Reef at the mouth of the Chagres River. The wreck is believed to be one of the boats lost as Morgan stormed Panama City in an attempt to take the Castillo de San Lorenzo, a Spanish fort on the cliff overlooking the entrance to the Chagres River, the only water passageway between the Caribbean and the capital city. Although his men ultimately prevailed, Morgan lost five ships to the rough seas and shallow reef surrounding the fort.

In the 17th century, Morgan sailed as a privateer on behalf of England, defending the Crown’s interests and pioneering expeditions to the ‘New World.’ Today, Morgan is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the famed Captain Morgan’s rum.

Check out the video below to see the archaeologists in action





The team uncovered roughly 52×22 feet of the starboard side of a wooden ship’s hull and a series of unopened cargo boxes and chests encrusted in coral. The artifacts were buried deep beneath a thick layer of sand and mud.

Ballast stones and iron concretions (the hull’s ‘ribs’) were also found. The ship was found with the help of a magnetometer survey, an underwater archaeological technique used to locate anomalies in the magnetic field below the surface of the water. The funding for the expedition was provided by Captain Morgan rum.

“For us, the real treasure is the shipwrecks themselves, which can give us the ability to accurately tell the story of a legendary historical figure like Captain Henry Morgan,” said Frederick “Fritz” H. Hanselmann, underwater archaeologist and Research Faculty with the River Systems Institute and the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University. “Discoveries of this nature allow us to study these artifacts and teach others what life was like for these famous privateers more than three hundred years ago.”

Due to the shallow waters and close proximity to the coast, treasure hunters have stolen many of the artifacts of monetary value, like gold coins, from the surrounding areas. In an attempt to help save the historic site from looting, the dive team is working closely with the Panamanian government to study and carefully preserve artifacts, which are an integral part of Panama’s history and heritage.

In September 2010, the team recovered six iron cannons from a nearby site also believed to be from one of the notorious Welsh privateer’s ships. Six more were found in March 2011.

Artifacts and future relics will remain the property of the Panamanian government and will be preserved and displayed by the Patronato Panama Viejo.

Video: Southwest Airlines’ departure from the Oskhosh AirVenture

by Grant Martin on

Though aviation enthusiasts are the focus of each annual Oshkosh AirVenture, there’s also a big commercial and and industrial component. This year, for example, Ford, GE and Honda each had a significant presence on the grounds, largely for what seems to be exposure.

As part of the festivities, Southwest also brought one of their Boeing 737s to display at the show, and they chocked the airplane full of volunteers, employees and media for a special shuttle flight from Chicago‘s Midway into the heart of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. And since Gadling Labs is based out of Chicago, we hitched along for the ride.






Departure from Midway was at an eye-rubbing 7AM, and once on the ground in Oshkosh we had full range to wander wherever and photograph whatever we wanted. And just as the clouds rolled in at 5PM, we gathered back together to make the journey home.

First officer JC was standing on the airstairs as we watched the clouds roll in, and somehow we got onto the topic of cockpit jumpseat availability. Asked if we could take an open slot, he shrugged in affirmation — since this wasn’t a commercially operated Southwest flight the rules on passengers in the cockpit weren’t as strict, so after checking with the captain of the flight we came up front.

Above, you’ll see the perspective of the Southwest crew during the taxi and takeoff from Oshkosh AirVenture. With spectators lining the parallel taxi way and a festive atmosphere all about it was truly a unique experience — we hope you enjoy the perspective.

Woman sets new speed record on Appalachian Trail

by Kraig Becker on

Long distance hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis completed an end-to-end hike of the Appalachian Trail on Sunday, setting a new speed record in the process. The 28-year old endured long days on the trail, plenty of insects, record heat, and nagging injuries along the way to the finish.

Pharr Davis began her trek at the AT’s northern trail head, located on Mount Katahdin in Maine. Hiking for 15+ hours a day, she managed to cover the entire 2200-mile length of the AT in just 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes, reaching the end on Springer Mountain in Georgia this past Sunday. That’s a full day faster than previous record holder Andrew Thompson’s time (47:13:31) and more than ten days faster than Jennifer’s previous record for a female hiker, which stood at 57 days, 8 hours, and 13 minutes.

Between Maine and Georgia, the trail passes through 14 states and offers hundreds of access points along the way. On an annual basis, the AT sees 2-3 million hikers, although most are content to walk just a small section of the full route. There are a few however who take it upon themselves to thru-hike the entire length, with most taking months to complete the journey.

To put into perspective Jennifer’s accomplishment; she managed to walk more than 47 miles per day for 46 days. That’s a very impressive stat considering the terrain that she had to cross through often involved rugged climbs and descents and was usually through dense forests as well. The daily grind of walking that many miles is enough to take its toll on anyone and is a true test of stamina and determination.

[Photo courtesy Mike Dirks/Times-News]