Posted on 09/12/2023 10:57:45 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Officials at Grand Canyon National Park say a Virginia man died Saturday while hiking in the backcountry.
According to the park, 55-year-old Ranjith Varma of Manassas, Virginia was attempting to hike from the South Rim to the North Rim in one day when he became unresponsive on the North Kaibab Trail about a mile south of Cottonwood Campground.
Bystanders began CPR and called search and rescue personnel who responded via helicopter, which had to perform specialized maneuvers.
Their attempts to resuscitate Varma weren’t successful, however.
Officials say temperatures on the canyon’s inner trails can reach 120 degrees during the summer and they urge people not to hike during the heat of the day.
Assistance can also be delayed because of limited staff, the number of rescue calls, employee safety and curtailed helicopter capability during extreme heat or inclement weather.
The National Park Service and Coconino County Medical Examiner are conducting an investigation.
It’s the second potentially heat-related death this year in the Grand Canyon. In July a 57-year-old woman died while attempting to an eight-mile hike in the remote Tuweep area of the park.
[Officials say temperatures on the canyon’s inner trails can reach 120 degrees during the summer and they urge people not to hike during the heat of the day.]
yikes
In other news... the canyon’s free Covid vax stations are now fully operational.
I got heat stroke around 30 years ago when I use to do landscaping. It was crazy, basically I cooked like a hotdog and passed out and it took forever to get back to normal. Passing stools was like passing bricks, it hurt like hell and did some permanent damage. My doctor was worried I did some damage to my liver and kidneys but 30 years later I’m still here. That was our bastard boss who demanded we work no matter what. “Oh its 110 degrees out, yes perfectly fine to do some hard labor digging trees out”
Play stupid games.
The heat was hot
and the ground was dry
This would have been difficult at even age 25 with proper gear and water
I did a rim to rim...went down the South Kaibab trail to Phantom Ranch, and then back out on Bright Angel...in the same day. It was June tho...not quite 120 degrees at the time. Although the bottom of the canyon was in the low 100’s. It would have been nice to cool down in the river, but the water temp was in the low 50’s.
It was epic...but I was a mite younger in those days.
Funny thing...there are signs posted several places all the way down the trail, warning people to not attempt to hike down and back out in the same day. People that get stuck doing that have only two options to get back out...mule train from the ranch or helicopter. Not a cheap trek.
“It’s the second potentially heat-related death this year in the Grand Canyon.”
You were fortunate to do that hike before Global Warming was a thing.
I’ve hiked to the bottom twice in my life. I once took 3 teenagers on an attempt for rim-to-rim-and-back. However, I made the decision to abort the trek on the morning of the 2nd day due to the lack of sufficient conditioning in 2 of the young men. Where we aborted was near where this hiker died.
Condolences to his loved ones and friends. This is no hike to take without proper preparation.
He was a US citizen
I’ve never had any desire to engage in rimming.
55 years old, too old for a Darwin Award, but worthy of honorable mention.
You would think by that age he would know just how dangerous that had the potential to be.
We had friends who hiked down and up the canyon in a few hours……wearing cheap tennis shoes
They lost all their toenails!
Ouch!
Dehydration, heatstroke? R.I.P.
Manassas, VA is known for people who play stupid games.
You were fortunate to do that hike before Global Warming was a thing.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
1,600 scientists, including two Nobel laureates, recently signed a declaration saying “There is no climate emergency.”
Unless you’re doing a R2R in the middle of summer!
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