Hiker Is Found Dead in Grand Canyon National Park

31.08.2024 - 21:15 / nytimes.com

The body of a hiker was found on a remote trail in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona in what was the sixth death reported in the sprawling park this month, the authorities said.

The hiker, a 60-year-old man from North Carolina, was located by search-and-rescue personnel in a helicopter on Wednesday along a route connecting Lower Tapeats Camp and Deer Creek Camp, the National Park Service said on Thursday.

The unidentified hiker was on a multiday backpacking trip, officials said.

The Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center, which is the dispatcher for emergency operations in the area, learned of the missing hiker on Tuesday afternoon. It “received a report of a solo backpacker who had failed to check in with a family member while attempting the Thunder River Trail-Deer Creek loop,” the Park Service said.

The approximately 25-mile looping hike off the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, along a trail that the Grand Canyon Conservancy said was carved out by gold miners in the late 1800s, features “booming streams of crystalline water” but also a southern exposure that made the area “infamously hot,” according to a Park Service trail guide.

The Park Service said it was investigating the death in coordination with the Coconino County medical examiner.

A park spokeswoman did not immediately respond on Saturday to a request for additional information.

The 1.2-million-acre park’s sweeping vistas, sloping, rust-colored canyons and bursts of green along the Colorado River draw millions of visitors each year.

Signs throughout the park warn of the risk of dehydration, often including short narratives about hikers unprepared for the rigors of the climate, who died traversing the steep-walled canyons.

The death was the sixth fatality reported in Grand Canyon since July 31, according to previous park news releases. Others include an unidentified 80-year-old man who died after his boat flipped over in a river; Chenoa Rickerson, a 33-year-old woman whose body was found after a flash flood; and Leticia A. Castillo, 20, whose body was found 150 feet below an overlook.

There have been at least 14 deaths in Grand Canyon so far this year, including six fatalities reported over two separate weeklong periods this summer.

Last year, there were 10 deaths in Grand Canyon and approximately 4.7 million people visited the park, according to the Park Service.