Yosemite National Park

Thousands of people were allowed to resume camping in Yosemite Valley after a one-day evacuation because of high winds. The National Weather Service had issued an alert for possible winds of 70 m.p.h. but the gusts had died down to 35 m.p.h. by midmorning, park ranger Len McKenzie said.

Four people were killed when their single-engine plane crashed in steep terrain on the eastern edge of Yosemite National Park, authorities said Saturday. Searchers reached the plane about 9 a.m. Saturday after the Civil Air Patrol sighted it near a 12,767-foot, snow-covered peak, said Kris Fister of the National Park Service. The plane had emitted an emergency signal about 6 p.m. Friday, but an initial search of the region yielded nothing, Fister said. The cause of the crash is unknown.

More than 3.5 million people visited Yosemite National Park last year, a 9.5% increase from 1990 when the park was closed for 11 days because of major forest fires. Supt. Mike Finley said 3,547,163 people were in the park in 1991, up 309,000 from 1990. The 1991 total was up 117,500 from 1989. Seventy percent of the visitors were from California, Finley said.