800 Tons of Yosemite Rock Damage Windshield
Tuesday, Feb 3, 2009 | Updated 12:29 PM PDT
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Yosemite creek below lower Yosemite Falls in October 2003.
Yosemite National Park managers say a rockfall last week launched small flying granite fragments into the parking lot behind the historic Ahwahnee Hotel.
Most of the 800 tons of rock that fell on Thursday afternoon landed on a slope behind the historic hotel in Yosemite Valley. There were no injuries, but officials say a car windshield was damaged.
Rangers say rockfalls are common in the winter months, when precipitation and recurring freeze-and-thaw cycles cause soil to loosen.
Park officials closed one-third of the visitor cabins in Curry Village in November after an Associated Press story revealed federal geologists had warned for at least a decade that a granite face above the lodging units was dangerous.
