The 57-year-old female, who has yet to be identified, was hiking through the remote Tuweep area of the national park on July 2, said a park spokesperson.
A woman died while attempting an eight-mile hike in the Grand Canyon over the weekend, according to a spokesperson for the park.
The 57-year-old female, who has yet to be identified, was hiking through the remote Tuweep area of the national park on July 2, said a park spokesperson.
Then, at around 6:30 p.m., a U.S. Park Ranger received a report of a distressed day hiker in the Tuweep area. The park spokesperson said that on that call the ranger was informed that a woman had become unconscious.
Weather reports from July 2 in Arizona show that the high temperature in Tuweep was well over 100 degrees. The temperature at the nearby Phantom Ranch reached approximately 114 degrees during the day.
A park spokesperson said that the remote location of the trail meant that a park ranger could not get to the scene until over six hours after that call came in, arriving at approximately 1 a.m. on July 3. The park ranger pronounced the woman dead soon after arriving on the scene.
There is no lodging, food, gas or water in Tuweep, and while there is a ranger station six miles from the area, it is not always staffed by a ranger. There is also no cell phone service.
Park rangers at Grand Canyon National Park are now urging visitors, especially inner canyon hikers and backpackers, to be prepared for excessively hot days in the coming weeks.
Temperatures on the exposed parts of the trail can reach over 120 degrees in the shade, which can lead to serious health risks including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, hyponatremia and death.
A spokesperson said that an investigation into this death is being conducted by the National Park Service in coordination with the Mohave County Medical Examiner.
