Yosemite plunge kills hiker

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif.

- A woman slipped to her death Sunday while descending Half Dome in the rain, the latest accident at Yosemite National Park in a year that is becoming the deadliest in recent history.

Fourteen people have died so far this year, including three who were swept over Vernal Fall two weeks ago. In 2007, seven people were killed at the park, the most in any recent year until this one.

One factor is a record snowfall that has created treacherous snowmelt, swelling streams and rivers at a time of year when nature in Yosemite is supposed to be relatively tranquil.

For Haley LaFlamme, 26, it likely was the unseasonable rain that brewed on the day her group of four secured a rare permit to ascend the enormous, smooth granite dome, the park's iconic feature. They were among a group of about 20 hikers who were braving the trip to the summit despite the wet conditions, slippery granite and distant lightning and thunder.

The permits limit traffic on the 8.5-mile climb. LaFlamme was using the cables that park officials install during the hiking season to help with the steep and sometimes slippery footing up the final pitch of the granite dome.

About 11 a.m., people in the park began to send messages on Twitter about a raging thunderstorm. At noon, Yosemite's emergency communication center received a 9-1-1 call reporting a hiker had fallen at the bottom of the cables, where the granite trail becomes less steep and the cables end. Park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said LaFlamme fell 600 feet from the shoulder. She was dead at the scene.

The hikers who witnessed the fall were so frightened that 40 people refused to move and had to be rescued from the dome, Cobb said.