Death in the Grand Canyon -- it can happen even to smart people

[Anonymous]

I hiked in the Grand Canyon with my boyfriend in 2000. Yes, there are warning signs about not doing it in one day but I was young and stupid and overestimated myself. The other mistake was that we thought we could eat a full meal at the restaurant located on the bottom. But you had to make a reservation beforehand because all supplies are transported by mules. So all we got was crackers and water.
When we hiked back, I soaked a towel in water to place on my head and it was bone dry within minutes. Anyway, after a while I got a runny stomach and I had to go right then and there (normally I do anything to avoid pooping in public). All that really weakened me and I got mentally overwhelmed that I would ever make it back to the top. My boyfriend had to hold my hand and lead me back up. I could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other until we made it back to the top. I cannot imagine what would have happened if I had been alone like the sad women in this story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hiked in the Grand Canyon with my boyfriend in 2000. Yes, there are warning signs about not doing it in one day but I was young and stupid and overestimated myself. The other mistake was that we thought we could eat a full meal at the restaurant located on the bottom. But you had to make a reservation beforehand because all supplies are transported by mules. So all we got was crackers and water.
When we hiked back, I soaked a towel in water to place on my head and it was bone dry within minutes. Anyway, after a while I got a runny stomach and I had to go right then and there (normally I do anything to avoid pooping in public). All that really weakened me and I got mentally overwhelmed that I would ever make it back to the top. My boyfriend had to hold my hand and lead me back up. I could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other until we made it back to the top. I cannot imagine what would have happened if I had been alone like the sad women in this story.

It seems like you didn't read the story. She was hiking with two children ages 10 and 11 (not alone). And she had a campground reservation at Bright Angel, meaning it's likely she was doing it as a two or three day hike, not a day hike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've hiked to the bottom and will do it again, but why would anybody do it in late July?

Because for some people, they don't have a lot of control over when they can take vacation, FFS.

No idiot, but they have control over WHERE they go. It's pretty logical not to go to AZ in late July or August if you want to hike. They've had extreme heat there, and it's really not a good idea.

I grew up in the UAE, and you don't go into the desert in August. Common sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is very sad. However I am not surprised. Even on this board, I see many smug people act like they know it all and like nothing bad can happen to them.

There was a thread where someone warned about the danger of visiting AZ and the Grand Canyon during the summer. But there were smug posters being lame badasses bragging how 100-120 degrees is no big deal and they've hiked there in summer with their kids blah blah. That false sense of safety is dangerous and stupid, and leads many to cause their own deaths, underestimating the extreme power of nature.

My thoughts exactly. Its a sad story, but if people pay attention to the warnings and the well posted recommendations or just don't go in July and August we might not see these cases so frequently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hiked in the Grand Canyon with my boyfriend in 2000. Yes, there are warning signs about not doing it in one day but I was young and stupid and overestimated myself. The other mistake was that we thought we could eat a full meal at the restaurant located on the bottom. But you had to make a reservation beforehand because all supplies are transported by mules. So all we got was crackers and water.
When we hiked back, I soaked a towel in water to place on my head and it was bone dry within minutes. Anyway, after a while I got a runny stomach and I had to go right then and there (normally I do anything to avoid pooping in public). All that really weakened me and I got mentally overwhelmed that I would ever make it back to the top. My boyfriend had to hold my hand and lead me back up. I could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other until we made it back to the top. I cannot imagine what would have happened if I had been alone like the sad women in this story.

It seems like you didn't read the story. She was hiking with two children ages 10 and 11 (not alone). And she had a campground reservation at Bright Angel, meaning it's likely she was doing it as a two or three day hike, not a day hike.

She was alone when she died because she left the kids (one of who already was sick from the heat) and went to get help. It seems like you didn't read the story.

It's easy to overestimate yourself, plan poorly, or just have something unexpected happen. Usually the consequences aren't fatal but here they were. I feel so sorry for her family. Everyone calling her stupid might want to think about the times you or a loved one messed up (bet you there was at least one time!) and how it was just luck that it wasn't fatal.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, there are several factors with the Canyon. People don't fully appreciate that: (1) it is significantly hotter on the bottom than at the top; (2) the hardest work is when you are your tiredest (at the end of the hike) -- which is the opposite of most hiking (which is usually up a mountain); and (3) the dry heat in Arizona is extremely dehydrating. I think the first and third probably got her.

It's also totally possible that something happened like the girls said they had their own water bottles, but they discovered halfway into the hike that one or both of the girls had lost their water bottles, or spilled them or something dumb like that which kids that age do. (I know my kids have done stupid things like fail to screw the top on correctly, and when they take their water out, it turns out that it all leaked out into their daypack.) The mom then probably gave her own water to the kids, and then was so disoriented that she made a couple of bad, fatal choices.

There is NO WATER available on the South Kaibab (unlike the Bright Angel, which has at least one water stop). It's about 7 miles down, which doesn't sound like a whole lot for someone that's in good shape, but the sun and heat are punishing. (It's also wicked steep.)

[Anonymous]

No matter how you want to spin it, this lady made a terrible decision taking kids hiking to the bottom of the hot ass GC in the middle of July. That is damn near child abuse, or negligence at the least. Yes she was very stupid for doing that. I'm just glad the kids didn't die too!

[Anonymous]

One thing that hikers can do - especially in desolate and dangerous places - rent a satellite phone and keep it with you in case you need help.

[Anonymous]

Those poor kids.

[Anonymous]

I had a good friend die on the Bright Angel trail a few years ago. He had a PhD in theoretical physics and was wickedly smart. I know you'll say that he must not have had common sense, but that really wasn't the case. He was foreign and trusted his American post doc advisor to plan the trip because the advisor had hiked the trail many times before. He said he knew what he was doing. My friend was a victim of his advisor's bad planning coupled with an unforgiving trail. I still miss him. So tragic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hiked in the Grand Canyon with my boyfriend in 2000. Yes, there are warning signs about not doing it in one day but I was young and stupid and overestimated myself. The other mistake was that we thought we could eat a full meal at the restaurant located on the bottom. But you had to make a reservation beforehand because all supplies are transported by mules. So all we got was crackers and water.
When we hiked back, I soaked a towel in water to place on my head and it was bone dry within minutes. Anyway, after a while I got a runny stomach and I had to go right then and there (normally I do anything to avoid pooping in public). All that really weakened me and I got mentally overwhelmed that I would ever make it back to the top. My boyfriend had to hold my hand and lead me back up. I could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other until we made it back to the top. I cannot imagine what would have happened if I had been alone like the sad women in this story.

It seems like you didn't read the story. She was hiking with two children ages 10 and 11 (not alone). And she had a campground reservation at Bright Angel, meaning it's likely she was doing it as a two or three day hike, not a day hike.

She was alone when she died because she left the kids (one of who already was sick from the heat) and went to get help. It seems like you didn't read the story.

It's easy to overestimate yourself, plan poorly, or just have something unexpected happen. Usually the consequences aren't fatal but here they were. I feel so sorry for her family. Everyone calling her stupid might want to think about the times you or a loved one messed up (bet you there was at least one time!) and how it was just luck that it wasn't fatal.

+1
Maybe she did follow guidelines and brought the recommended amt of water. maybe that still wasn't enough. shit happens. sadly this mistake cost her her life. it is sad ow little compassion people on here seem to have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hiked in the Grand Canyon with my boyfriend in 2000. Yes, there are warning signs about not doing it in one day but I was young and stupid and overestimated myself. The other mistake was that we thought we could eat a full meal at the restaurant located on the bottom. But you had to make a reservation beforehand because all supplies are transported by mules. So all we got was crackers and water.
When we hiked back, I soaked a towel in water to place on my head and it was bone dry within minutes. Anyway, after a while I got a runny stomach and I had to go right then and there (normally I do anything to avoid pooping in public). All that really weakened me and I got mentally overwhelmed that I would ever make it back to the top. My boyfriend had to hold my hand and lead me back up. I could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other until we made it back to the top. I cannot imagine what would have happened if I had been alone like the sad women in this story.

It seems like you didn't read the story. She was hiking with two children ages 10 and 11 (not alone). And she had a campground reservation at Bright Angel, meaning it's likely she was doing it as a two or three day hike, not a day hike.

She was alone when she died because she left the kids (one of who already was sick from the heat) and went to get help. It seems like you didn't read the story.

It's easy to overestimate yourself, plan poorly, or just have something unexpected happen. Usually the consequences aren't fatal but here they were. I feel so sorry for her family. Everyone calling her stupid might want to think about the times you or a loved one messed up (bet you there was at least one time!) and how it was just luck that it wasn't fatal.

+1
Maybe she did follow guidelines and brought the recommended amt of water. maybe that still wasn't enough. shit happens. sadly this mistake cost her her life. it is sad ow little compassion people on here seem to have.

+1. I think people like to make these judgments because its too scary to think that it could just be random chance and it could happen to them. I remember in the book "The Right Stuff" Wolfe talks about how when a test pilot would die, the other test pilots would always come up with the stupid thing that the dead pilot had done that they, of course, would never do. He figured it was their way of dealing with the danger of their profession.

This woman had hiked the trail before, and was less than a kilometer from Phantom Ranch, where she could get more water. It was just a very sad accident.

[Anonymous]

Wow, she had 5 young kids. Can you imagine being left alone to raise 5?