Waterfall

FRESNO, Calif. - Search and rescue rangers at Yosemite National Park were scouring an area below a popular waterfall yesterday afternoon after witnesses reported seeing at least one hiker being swept over the falls. A park spokeswoman, Kari Cobb, said yesterday that emergency services received multiple calls about one or more hikers going into the water and over the 317-foot Vernal Falls on the Merced River around 1 p.m. Rangers immediately closed the Mist Trail, a popular hike with tourists that leads to the waterfall, and rescue officials sent a member...

A 13-year-old boy rescued at the top of a 270-foot waterfall in Washington state says he just wanted to cool off, but soon found himself stuck precariously on a rock for hours as crews tried to reach him. "I wanted to go in … just to wade a little bit," William Hickman said at a news conference Monday where he was joined by the people who staged the dramatic, middle-of the night operation. It had been warm earlier in the day Saturday, and Hickman said he and his 9-year-old brother thought they could get in a quick dip. "I was pretty determined to go swimming, to get in...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - Young tourists above one of Yosemite National Park's beautiful and perilous waterfalls were trying to pose for a picture. Instead they burned a horrifying image into the memories of everyone who saw. A man and a woman crossed a metal barricade above the 317-foot Vernal Fall on Tuesday, making their way over slick granite to a rock in the middle of the swift Merced River. The woman slipped. The man reached for her and fell in. Another man in their group of about 10 tried to help but fell in as well.

When actress Zoe Saldana hit the red carpet for a Miami premiere on Monday, she rocked a glittering gold and cream Balmain gown and low-slung ponytail made of mini braids. Kirsten Dunst wore her blond locks in an elegant braided updo at Cannes. And Rihanna bested them all with her cherry red hair woven into a complicated French braid at the Costume Institute Ball at the Metropolitan Museum earlier this summer. There's no question that braids of all types will continue to be the hot hair trend this fall, but how to wear them in the real world (translation: to work)

When actress Zoe Saldana hit the red carpet for a Miami premiere on Monday, she rocked a glittering gold and cream Balmain gown and low-slung ponytail made of mini braids. Kirsten Dunst wore her blond locks in an elegant braided updo at Cannes. And Rihanna bested them all with her cherry red hair woven into a complicated French braid at the Costume Institute Ball at the Metropolitan Museum earlier this summer. There's no question that braids of all types will continue to be the hot hair trend this fall, but how to wear them in the real world (translation: to work)

Authorities say a 14-year-old Vermont boy has been injured after he fell 30 feet from the top of a waterfall in the eastern Adirondacks. David Winchell, a spokesman with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, says the boy fell around noon Thursday at Shelving Rock Falls in Fort Ann, on the eastern shore of Lake George 60 miles northeast of Albany. Winchell says state forest rangers and local emergency crews treated the boy at the scene before he was transported by ambulance and helicopter to Glens Falls Hospital.

A waterfall in motion, though beautiful, is nothing compared with one that has been arrested by plunging temperatures. Though we often visit them in warm weather, just like autumn leaves, waterfalls have their peak season, and that time is now. There are excellent winter waterfalls to visit all over the region. Some of the best are in the southern Berkshires of Massachusetts and in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. On a day trip to either area it’s possible to explore several frozen falls — both spectacular and accessible — in just a few hours.

On a recent weekend getaway I did something a photographer almost never does: I left my cameras at home. The 35mm digital cameras I use for work weigh about five pounds each. Add a camera bag and that's another 10 pounds of gear. I wanted to be free of all that. I didn't even bring my small point-and-shoot camera. Instead, as an experiment, I took my wireless handheld device, a BlackBerry Pearl, with its built-in camera. Its lens is the size of my parakeet's eyeball. Would this give me the quality shots I get from my other cameras?

Spa veterans are familiar with the basics and their varieties: Swedish classic long-stroke relaxation treatment; sports massage geared to a specific activity like skiing or tennis; deep tissue, for those who prefer firm pressure. In my travels, I’ve come across vaiations on the standard and some unique treatments. I’m a fan of deep tissue massage, so when I heard the description of an ashiatsu massage at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek’s Allegria Spa in Avon, Colo., near Vail, I knew it was something I had to try. It is often referred to as barefoot...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - Young tourists above one of Yosemite National Park's beautiful and perilous waterfalls were trying to pose for a picture. Instead they burned a horrifying image into the memories of everyone who saw. A man and a woman crossed a metal barricade above the 317-foot Vernal Fall on Tuesday, making their way over slick granite to a rock in the middle of the swift Merced River. The woman slipped. The man reached for her and fell in. Another man in their group of about 10 tried to help but fell in as well.

FRESNO, Calif. - Search and rescue rangers at Yosemite National Park were scouring an area below a popular waterfall yesterday afternoon after witnesses reported seeing at least one hiker being swept over the falls. A park spokeswoman, Kari Cobb, said yesterday that emergency services received multiple calls about one or more hikers going into the water and over the 317-foot Vernal Falls on the Merced River around 1 p.m. Rangers immediately closed the Mist Trail, a popular hike with tourists that leads to the waterfall, and rescue...

Authorities say a 14-year-old Vermont boy has been injured after he fell 30 feet from the top of a waterfall in the eastern Adirondacks. David Winchell, a spokesman with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, says the boy fell around noon Thursday at Shelving Rock Falls in Fort Ann, on the eastern shore of Lake George 60 miles northeast of Albany. Winchell says state forest rangers and local emergency crews treated the boy at the scene before he was transported by ambulance and helicopter to Glens Falls Hospital.

In 2008, Brigham Hill Farm in Grafton joined the ranks of notable landscapes documented in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens. But building a garden showplace was not part of the plan when Shirley and Peter Williams bought the farm 35 years ago. The couple spent their first 20 years restoring the 18th-century house and barn and raising their three children. Outdoor life centered on the swimming pool. Once the couple started working on the landscape, they did so without a master plan.

A waterfall in motion, though beautiful, is nothing compared with one that has been arrested by plunging temperatures. Though we often visit them in warm weather, just like autumn leaves, waterfalls have their peak season, and that time is now. There are excellent winter waterfalls to visit all over the region. Some of the best are in the southern Berkshires of Massachusetts and in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. On a day trip to either area it’s possible to explore several frozen falls — both spectacular and accessible — in just a few hours.

Spa veterans are familiar with the basics and their varieties: Swedish classic long-stroke relaxation treatment; sports massage geared to a specific activity like skiing or tennis; deep tissue, for those who prefer firm pressure. In my travels, I’ve come across vaiations on the standard and some unique treatments. I’m a fan of deep tissue massage, so when I heard the description of an ashiatsu massage at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek’s Allegria Spa in Avon, Colo., near Vail, I knew it was something I had to try. It is often referred to as barefoot...

Swept down one waterfall and about to plunge over a much larger one, a 13-year-old boy managed to climb onto a 1-foot-wide rock shelf in a gushing Washington state river — and then stayed there for eight and a half hours until rescuers finally saved him early Sunday, sheriff's officials said. The boy was out hiking with his father and his father's friend at about 5 p.m. Saturday, when he began wading in the river above Wallace Falls, at a popular state park near Gold Bar, 45 miles northeast of Seattle in the Cascade foothills.

With two free plane tickets after being bumped from a flight, I thought about San Francisco, Santa Fe, or New Orleans. My husband suggested taking a houseboat on Utah’s Lake Powell to explore the side canyons of the Colorado River. I knew about the serpentine slot canyons lacing the Colorado River system from Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness,’’ in which he laments the flooding of the lost jewel of the West, the gorgeous Glen Canyon, all to create a reservoir for the surrounding arid states.

"A few years ago, I had an epiphany," Joe Rubenstein was explaining. "Just because you're camping doesn't mean you can't eat well. " Coming from Joe, that meant something. My sister's boyfriend's brother, he'd hiked all but 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail at the age of 17, and in the ten years since had camped everywhere from Utah to right here in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge. In other words, he had way more wilderness experience than I had. And so, on our first night on the Eagle Creek Trail, as Joe, his friend Tim Hancock and I broke out three juicy rib-eye steaks...