[July 28, 2011] Families make repeated journeys to Yosemite waterfall Tweet YOSEMITE, Jul 27, 2011 (The Modesto Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Relatives of three Central Valley hikers swept over Vernal Fall a week ago continue near-daily trips to the park, desperate for news of their children. "We can't sleep at night," said Tony Badal, whose daughter, Ramina, went into the water along with friends Hormiz "Nenos" David, 22, of Modesto and Ninos Yacoub, 27, of Turlock during a day trip to Yosemite National Park. "Our loved ones are not home." While the families plead with park authorities to do all they can in the search, they also are concerned for potential dangers facing other hikers. They asked Romina Kiryakous, founder of Genesis Behavior Center Inc., to have her firm conduct an assessment of the safety measures in place at Vernal Fall. Although signs warn hikers to stay on the trails and a metal rail lines the top of the 317-foot waterfall, Kiryakous doesn't think that's enough. "I'm not content with that skimpy little rail," Kiryakous said, pointing out two women who went on the other side of it to wash their hands Tuesday afternoon. "What is (the National Park Service's) ethical duty to let me know what's happening?" Kiryakous and her team have been collecting data over several visits to the fall; a certified behavior analyst will compile findings, set for release Friday. In the meantime, the families continue waiting, and hoping that by some chance the hikers are still alive. They said their Christian faith keeps them going; their church in Ceres has conducted a number of prayer vigils for the hikers. "The hardest thing is to tell us we're going to have to wait," said Shamiran David, Nenos' mother. "Every minute is like one year to our hearts." National Park Service officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday but said earlier that the powerful flow of the water, fed by a heavy snowpack that's only now melting after a cool spring, makes any further search of the Merced River below the fall too dangerous. Search and rescue crews looked through the end of last week and over the weekend, but the Park Service scaled back the search Tuesday. Rangers will continue to hike along the trail to Vernal Fall, looking for any signs. Sargon David, Nenos David's father, said he understood that the river flow might be lower Tuesday after milder weather slowed snowmelt over the weekend. But when he arrived Tuesday, he said, rangers told him that wasn't the case, and the water was still moving too fast for aerial searches or shoreline searches with dogs. The family members emphasized that they are grateful to the rangers and rescue personnel they have worked with, but they think they should bring in more help. "They're reacting instead of acting," Sargon David said. He said when he learned from a friend that his son might have his cell phone with him, he tried to work with the phone carrier to seek out a GPS signal. But the phone company said that request would have to come from law enforcement. "That was Thursday," he said. "This is Tuesday, and they don't know anything." Trying to reach out for any means of help possible, the family members got in touch with Rep. Dennis Cardoza's office Tuesday. While they are struggling to come to terms with their tragedy, the family members said they also want to focus on what lies ahead for other hikers. David, who worked on safety issues in his native Australia, said he immediately grew concerned when rangers explained him how the area of Vernal Fall works. "I was here two minutes and I realized there was a problem," he said, adding that if he had been aware of the dangers, he wouldn't have let his son go on the trip. He said he realizes that the federal government is strapped for money, but that it wouldn't take much to beef up security measures. "They'll spend $1 million on recovering people, but don't want to spend $5,000 on a fence." Nina Paulus, cousin of the David family, said she has seen rangers posted at the bridge about halfway up the trail to the fall. "If they can post them there, why not at the most dangerous place in the park?" Park officials said previously they did not plan to make changes to their security measures, believing that the railing and warning signs in place are sufficient. Kiryakous said she realizes the park is wilderness, and it can be a treacherous place. But she thinks the park service can do more to make visitors aware of just how dangerous conditions get. She plans to offer her firm's findings and suggestions to the federal government. "If they say they don't have the money, we will ask about the possibility of fund-raising," she said. She said the goal of the assessment isn't to make demands on the park service, but to start a conversation about potential safety measures. The families want that, and a little more. They want people to realize that their children weren't wild risk-takers who climbed a fence to get somewhere they clearly weren't supposed to be. "Ask anybody," said Shamiran David. "My son is a gentleman. All of those kids were mature and well-behaved. They wouldn't do silly things to risk their lives." Bee staff writer Patty Guerra can be reached at [email protected] or (209) 578-2343. To see more of The Modesto Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.modbee.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Modesto Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]