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4 months ago
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A Texas man hiking a popular trail in the Grand Canyon over the weekend has been declared dead, the National Park Service announced.
The Grand Canyon dispatching office received a report around 7 pm on June 29 that a man was found semi-conscious on the canyon's River Trail, which runs for just under two miles along the Colorado River.
Officials identified the hiker as 69-year-old Scott Sims from Austin, explaining in a Monday press release that he was heading to Phantom Ranch where he was planning on staying for the night.
Three National Park Service paramedics rushed to the hiker's position from Phantom Ranch as bystanders began doing CPR on Sims.
Unfortunately, all efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, leading the Park Service to issue a dire warning about extreme heat while hiking, especially on the specific trail Sims was on.
Scott Sims, 69, is from Austin, Texas, and was hiking in the Grand Canyon when he died
Pictured: South Kaibab Trail at Grand Canyon National Park. This is the treacherously hot trail Sims traversed in order to get to Phantom Ranch, where he planned to stay overnight
'In the summer, temperatures on exposed parts of the trail can reach over 120°F in the shade. Park rangers strongly advise not hiking in the inner canyon during the heat of the day between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm,' the federal agency wrote in a statement.
The summer months are a particularly perilous time to hike because the heat also makes it more complicated for rescue operations to be conducted.
The Park Service said 'limited staff, the number of rescue calls, employee safety requirements, and limited helicopter flying capability during periods of extreme heat' are major factors that make a summer trek through the Grand Canyon a potentially deadly affair.
Officials didn't confirm if Sims died from heat stroke, nor did they release any information on his cause of death.
According to AccuWeather, the high temperature on the day Sims died was 91°F.
Its important to note, however, that temperatures vary wildly in the canyon, often getting much hotter the deeper you go.
Over the last few weeks, scorching temperatures have swept across the US, and particularly in the southwestern states where the Grand Canyon is located.
Phantom Ranch, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, was where Sims was headed on his fatal hike. The walk to this lodge is 7.5 miles on the South Kaibab Trail, which takes 4 to 5 hours on average
Pink granite rock outcropping in the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The Black Bridge marks the end of the South Kaibab Trail
Grand Canyon National Park is seen from the South Kaibab Trail along the South Rim trailhead
Extreme heat is known to cause heat exhaustion and heat stroke, with the latter having the potential to be fatal if treatment isn't administered immediately.
Sims' is the second hiker to lose his life this year at the Grand Canyon, after a 41-year-old man was found dead just two weeks ago at the bottom of the Bright Angel Trail, CBS News affiliate KLAS reported.
One other person besides the two hikers has perished at the park this year, though under different circumstances.
A 33-year-old man on the canyon's Sky Walk fell 4,000 feet to his death on the morning of June 5.
The man was never identified by authorities, but the incident was later ruled a suicide.
A new analysis this year ranked the Grand Canyon as the most dangerous national park in the country, mainly due to extreme heat, risk of falls and the presence of wild animals.
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