Squatters, illegal BASE jumpers invade Yosemite amid federal shutdown

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Squatters, illegal BASE jumpers invade Yosemite amid federal shutdown

https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/yosemite-national-park-shutdown-illegal-activities-21093093.php

A little over a week since the Oct. 1 shutdown of the federal government, videos and photos have surfaced on social media showing visitors to Yosemite National Park engaging in dangerous and illegal behaviors, including BASE jumping from El Capitan and climbing Half Dome’s cables without permits.

A little over a week since the Oct. 1 shutdown of the federal government, videos and photos have surfaced on social media showing visitors to Yosemite National Park engaging in dangerous and illegal behaviors, including BASE jumping from El Capitan and climbing Half Dome’s cables without permits.

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“It’s like the Wild Wild West,” said John DeGrazio, founder of the tour company YExplore Yosemite Adventures.

BASE jumping from the park’s majestic granite monoliths and illegal climbs up Half Dome’s famous cables aren’t anything new. The jumps have been happening since the 1960s, and in his more than 200 times summiting Half Dome, DeGrazio has regularly encountered hikers without permits who are hoping to score somebody’s extra along the trail.

“This is different,” DeGrazio said after viewing a brazen post in the Aspiring Half Dome Hikers Facebook group about an illegal ascent. “These people are counting on no enforcement because of the shutdown.”