(WASHINGTON POST) The iconic Half Dome in Yosemite National Park has loomed large in the national imagination since American settlers began exploring the park in the middle of the 19th-century. Every year, thousands of hikers seek to summit the 4,800-foot, crescent-shaped granite formation that offers one of the most spectacular panoramic views in the country.
But Half Dome can be deadly.
On Thursday morning, an Arizona women died after falling 500 feet down steep, rocky terrain on a segment of Half Dome that requires hikers to cling to cables for stability, according to Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman. The woman was identified as 29-year old Danielle Burnett of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
