That rock slide on the Mist Trail nearly took me out

I was coming down from Half Dome last July around 3pm when a chunk of granite the size of a cooler broke loose about 50 feet above me on the switchbacks. I dove against the cliff wall and it bounced past, just grazing my pack strap and taking out the guy behind me's water bottle. Has anyone else had close calls with loose rock on heavily trafficked routes like that?

4 comments

4 Comments

stellanelson15d ago

That must've been terrifying, glad you're okay.

nancy81715d ago

Did you have any warning signs beforehand that something was off, @stellanelson? I always wonder if these things come out of nowhere or if there's a pattern.

roberts9514d ago

Read a report that said icefall collapses actually give a subtle rumble before big ones.

jamesroberts14d ago

Man I had a similar thing happen on the Muir Snowfield like 2 years ago, a rock the size of a basketball came bouncing down and I watched it hit three people before it finally stopped. Some dude yelled "rock!" about half a second before it got to me so I just threw myself sideways into a snow bank. Ended up with snow down my pants and a bruised ego but hey, better than a cracked skull right? The worst part was the guy behind me who got clipped in the shoulder just kept walking like nothing happened, I swear some people have no survival instinct.