2 Hikers Killed in Yosemite’s Tenaya Canyon

Two Yosemite National Park visitors died in separate mishaps while hiking in dangerous terrain with no marked trails, the National Park Service said Saturday.

Both accidents occurred Friday in Tenaya Canyon, adjacent to Yosemite Valley and near the center of the 1,169-square-mile park in the Sierra Nevada.

Alejandro Hernandez, 23, of Vigo, Spain, died after falling 130 feet while hiking in the canyon with his brother, said Park Ranger Nikyra Calcagno.

Sam Meier, 24, of Buffalo, Wyo., was rappelling in the canyon near Hidden Falls when he apparently slipped from his rope into a water-filled cavern and drowned, Calcagno said.

Last year, 18 park visitors died in Yosemite, most of them hikers, Park Ranger Laura Avdisian said, and rangers conducted 188 search and rescue operations.