SALT LAKE CITY – Three hikers died over the weekend in suspected cases of heat in the state and national parks in Utah, including a father and daughter who got lost on a strenuous hike in Canyonlands National Park in triple-digit temperatures.
The daughter, 23, and her father, 52, sent a text message to 911 alerting dispatchers that they were lost and without water as they walked the 8-mile Syncline Loop, described by National Park Service as the most challenging trail in the Island in the Sky district in southeastern Utah. The pair set out on Friday to navigate steep switchbacks and traverse rocky fields with limited trail markers as air temperatures surpassed 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).
Park rangers and a Bureau of Land Management helicopter crew began searching for the lost hikers early Friday evening but found them already dead. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office identified them Monday as Albino Herrera Espinoza and his daughter, Beatriz Herrera, of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Due to the uneven terrain, law enforcement officials used a helicopter to transport the bodies out of the park and take them to the state medical examiner on Saturday morning, according to the sheriff’s office. Their deaths are being investigated as heat-related by the local sheriff and the National Park Service.
Later Saturday, emergency responders in southwestern Utah responded to a call about two hikers “suffering from a heat-related incident” at Snow Canyon State Park, which is known for its lava tubes, sand dunes and a canyon carved into red and white Navajo sandstone.
A multi-agency search team found and treated two hikers who were suffering from heat exhaustion. While treating these individuals, a passing hiker informed them of an unconscious person nearby. First responders found the 30-year-old woman dead, public safety officials said.
His death is being investigated by the Santa Clara-Ivins Department of Public Security. She has not been publicly identified.
Tourists continue herd for parks in Utah and other southwestern states during the hottest months of the year, even as authorities warn that hiking in extreme heat poses serious health risks.
A motorcyclist died earlier this month in Death Valley National Park in eastern California, and another motorcyclist was taken to a hospital due to severe heat illness. Both were part of a group that toured the Badwater Basin area in scorching weather.
Air temperatures in Death Valley reached at least 125 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius) for nine consecutive days from July 4 to 12 — the park’s longest stretch at or above that temperature since the early 1900s, it announced. the National Park Service on Monday. Now, parts of the park are experiencing a multi-day power outage triggered by a storm, as temperatures continue to hover above 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).
Late last month, a Texas man died while hiking in Grand Canyon National Parkwhere summer temperatures on exposed parts of the trails can reach over 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
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