Tragic Tale: Father And Daughter's Hiking Adventure Takes A Fatal Turn In Canyonlands National Park

Many moons ago I was a young, strong athlete --a virtual immortal super-being. Until I went onto the Appalachian Trail, in the heat of summer, alone, with insufficient water. At the end of this fun day hike I literally crawled back into Harpers Ferry WVA and spent the rest of the night cramping from electrolyte imbalance. I am lucky to be alive. Overconfidence + Arrogance = Kryptonite.

"It's not for us to judge, but it is for us to learn." Well said.

Men often times forget that they aren’t 18 anymore. When I was 20 years old, I was working construction in Florida. I was into power lifting. I would work all day in the summer heat, then go to the gym for a two hour workout, then go home, eat something, go to bed and do it again the next day. I did this for about 4 years. If I were to try that now, 40 years later, I would end up in the hospital, if not dead. You have to aware of your limitations.

The best thing I’ve read said, ‘you might be Pennsylvania woods smart. Doesn’t mean you’re Montana woods smart’

I almost died while visiting dead valley in July, we had a whole case of 1.5L water bottle in the car, we had our 2 dogs with us. It was 6 AM, cool, the sun was not up and we decided to go down Ubehebe crater. It was loose rocks all the way down and gravity made it easy. We took 3 L of water with us. We explored the bottom for a while and decided to start our way up. We ran out of water pretty quickly, for each step up we slid 2 down, crawling was the only way and so hard. At one point my shepherd mix did not want to move and lay down. I could not make headway. My husband took his shirt off and laid it over a low bush and I lay behind it with my golden retriever while my husband took the other dog over his shoulder and very slowly made his way up. We could see the car from where we were and knew there was AC and water there, but heat exhaustion is a real thing. He finally made it to the car, turned on the AC, grabbed water bottle and started tossing them my way. I kept seing bottles going left and right, hard to catch. Got one, then he made his way back down to us, he grabbed the other dog, I drank and we finally both pushed up. We both at some point did not believe we would make it. It was a determination that made the difference and the fact we had prepared for hot temperatures, just not enough. Huge lesson for me, I do not hike in summer in the desert anymore, I hit the mountains or the beach and wait for better climate.

Once long ago, i had to rescue an elderly man near Death Valley. It was August 100+degrees. He and his son and daughter in law went for a little walk. I passed them thinking they were just resting. When i returned they were still in the same spot, the old guy couldn't walk, the two dumb relatives had no clue what to do, i basically ordered the son to help me carry the older man to their car, while the wife did nothing,the old guys legs kept getting stuck in the boulders, i had to yell at the daughter in law to move his legs around the boulders! We got him to his car, and they headed to the nearest town, which was far away! There was no cell service out there. I still believe that if i did not come across them by chance, they would all have died out there!

I remember the mother, father, baby and dog that died a few years back in Arizona, similar situation. Here in Southern Utah, we hike starting at 5 or 6 in the morning and done by 8AM.

Years ago I hiked to the base of Half Dome, intending to do the cable climb. There's a sign near the start that warns against climbing if storm clouds are visible. Storm clouds were nowhere in the early morning, but by the time I reached the sign, they were visible, and a few hours later the rain began. I paid attention to the warning and didn't climb Half Dome. Disappointed, but probably saved my life.

I think people confuse "Staying hydrated" with protecting themselves from heat exhaustion. Drinking water constantly won't prevent heat exhaustion. Once your body exceeds a certain internal temperature, you're dead and drinking water doesn't stop that.

Also, remember guys. If you plan on a good hike, hydrate the day before. Dont wait until you start hiking to start hydrating. As someone who does marathons and ultramarthons, it's very important to start fueling well before you do the activity. Water alone isnt good enough. You need electrolytes as well. Take some electolyte packs with you or things like pickles, bananas which contain sodium and potassium. If you get a headache, feel aches, or start getting fatigued, its a sign you are lacking electrolytes.

I don’t understand the need for the average person to be doing these extreme hikes. The warning was right there.

Tragic and avoidable. In April, my son and I were hiking in a remote part of Death Valley to get to a mine we wanted to see. Short version is that we decided to go back a different way then we came in to take advantage of the 1600 feet of elevation gain we had between us and where we left a jeep. Even after lots of research, the exit we thought we would have from the alternate way back didn’t exist. It added 3 miles to a 6 mile hike with the last mile and a half gaining 500’. We hadn’t planned on that and didn’t have enough water. It was one bad decision that almost cost us our lives. When we started going up that last 1-1/2 and gaining elevation, we were already past dehydrated and got to the point of 2” steps. Realized at that point that the satellite rescue device I carry doesn’t do you any good if you don’t use it soon enough. Grateful for the experience. Humbled us a lot. Got complacent with our preparation and will not ever do it again.

Recently a well-respected and famous doctor died in 2 hours flat on a hot day on a Greek island. Took a wrong path, too hot found just 250 yards from a busy beach.

My partner and I almost died on that very trail for the very same reason. We were Montana woods smart but not desert smart. We didn’t have enough water. 103 degrees. Bad day for us. Hid under a rock outcrop. Then moved to each outcrop along the way. Tiny sips of our very dwindled water. Scary as hell. We were lucky we were in decent shape but it was close.

It is not even safe to stay in your vehicle in 110 degree summer temperatures. If your car breaks down, you are cooked.

This is so very sad. My son who is an avid hiker and has even hiked in other countries besides the US had big trouble on this trail 2 summers ago. He left early in the morning and we knew he was going to Canyonlands but he did not tell us which trail he was hiking as he usually did. He would always call me once he got off the trail and tell me what he was going to do next. It started getting past dinnertime and no phone call. Then 7 then 8 and it was getting dark. We were worried. I knew something was really wrong but we did not know what trail he was on but we knew we needed to get out to canyonlands. On the way there we got his phone call. Mom I'm really sick. I need to go to the hospital. I'm in the main parking lot in my car. There is no way I can drive. What had happened was in a section where the trail was not marked he got off course and could not find his way back to the trail. He ran out of water even though he had a of water with him. He got back on the trail finally but was in very bad shape. He'd taken off his shirt dropped it on the ground. A litter later he dropped his hat. Then he was having so much trouble even walking so he left his backpack on the side of the trail with his expensive camera and lenses on the side of the trail. He was hoping to leave a trail to him for us to find him. He did make it to the end of the trail and someone found him on the ground. They quickly got him water and drove him down to his car in the main parking lot. They stayed with him for quite a while and until they knew that we were on our way to get him. He had horrible cramps all over his body. He was in agony. He could not walk. He spent the whole next day in bed. He said he didn't want to go to the hospital now that he'd had some water and some special drinks that he had in the refrigerator of our camper. It can happen to anyone. He's hiked all over the world and even did the Wainright's Coast to Coast 192 mile trail across England in 8 days. You always need to tell someone nearby what trail you are hiking and when you expect to return so they can go looking for you.

In 2019 I secured really hard to get permit for the Subway in Zion. I along with my 17 and 20-year-old daughters learned to repel. We went on the trip and when I went to pick up the permit the Ranger said, “Oh, I guess they’ve started issuing permits for it. No one‘s been through there in a month because of high water so it could be kind of dangerous.” I took the permits and he wished me well. Within the next hour an outfitter and a shuttle operator both said “Do not go.” I listened.

Condolences to the family of these two hikers. Truly tragic story that's very sad. Reminds me of a time several years back when I was in Valley of Fire state park in Nevada passing through on my way to Zion. Valley of Fire is a beautiful park, but the day I was passing through it was nearly 100 degrees. Being out of the car for more than 5 or 10 minutes felt like being in a blast furnace. As much as I wanted to hike some of the trails that day I decided not to and just drove the park and stopped at some of the overlooks for 5 or 10 mins and got right back in the car. Hiking 8 miles in the desert in reasonable temps is hard enough. I can't imagine trying it with temps approaching or exceeding 100 degrees.

The ole Boy Scouts say "be prepared" which also includes "just don't go..."

When we moved from Provo Utah to Chicago we did not understand humidity and the heat index. My husband and his friend, who also moved from Utah, went out to play basketball. The temperature wasn’t bad but they both came back feeling horrible. The humidity and heat index made it much hotter. People don’t always understand the differences in the weather conditions in different parts of the states. I don’t know if that played a part in this tragedy. Don’t ignore warning signs.