If you're planning on visiting the Grand Canyon then please be careful. The national park is experiencing one of its deadliest periods in years after a string of accidents.
So far, 16 people have died at the Grand Canyon this year. Given that there's still several months left in the year, it's definitely cause for concern. However, it's not like there's a serial killer lurking at the national park. At least I hope there's not! All of the deaths at the Grand Canyon appear to have happened a various ways. A bunch of accidents, natural disasters, and some ill-fated decisions led to the current death toll.
Five people died in August alone. One man attempted an illegal BASE jump. That went about as well as you would expect. Two others drowned. Another appeared to fall off a ridge, and another died while on a solo backpacking trip. While the number of deaths may seem alarming, keep in mind that 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon every year on average. The rough average for fatalities at the national park is 17.
It would appear that recent deaths is a fluke. Meghan Smith, the preventive search and rescue coordinator at the park, called it an "outlier." She spoke with NPR about the deaths.
"We expect clusters of events any time there is monsoonal weather or any time we have extreme heat incidences. The thing that we don't expect is the cluster that you saw about a month ago where we had three back-to-back, over-the-edge falls involving our technical rescue team," she said.
Heat may have played a factor with temperatures reaching triple digits. That's what killed a 57-year-old in July.
"This has been an austere environment and going back, you know, many, many decades and understanding the collective history about this place," Smith said."One of the things that we are seeing that's different that I would say is tied to climate change is the water levels on the Colorado River and what water levels are let out of the dam ... that has changed drastically over the years."
Grand Canyon Deaths
The climate also may have caused boating accidents on the river.
Smith said, "So we're seeing much lower water levels in the lake, and thus out of the lake, and thus on the river. And we are having more serious accidents, incidents on the river in places we hadn't seen them in years past." Additionally, an Arizona woman died at the Grand Canyon in August after a flash flood.
If you're visiting the Grand Canyon, practice these proper safety tips.
"It's really important to use planning and preparedness. A lot of times when we go on vacation, the things we're looking at are what are we going to do for fun and what are we going to eat? But when we talk about recreational endeavors into the canyon, we want people self-assessing," Smith said.
Smith says plan for Plan B in an emergency situation.
"We want them to plan extra food, plan extra water, bring their home medications with them in case they get stuck out for an unplanned evening overnight, bringing plenty of light for them — light resources, aside from the flashlight on your cell phone," she said. "Bringing layers, particularly this time of year. It's really hot at the bottom of the canyon, it's really cold on the rim. Checking in with yourself along the way and if maybe you've bitten off more than you can chew."
