A hiker has been found dead after camping overnight at the base of the Grand Canyon, park officials said.
The 41-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, was found “unresponsive” Sunday morning along Bright Angel Trail, just east of Pipe Creek River Resthouse, according to the National Park Service (NPS).
“All attempts to resuscitate the hiker by passersby and National Park Service personnel were unsuccessful,” officials said. “The hiker, a 41-year-old man, had been hiking back out of the canyon after spending the night at Bright Angel Campground near Phantom Ranch.”
The deaths come after dozens of hikers visiting Havasupai Falls near Grand Canyon National Park recently reported becoming seriously ill with a mysterious illness.
In some cases, visitors were too ill to walk back out of the canyon and had to be evacuated by helicopter.
Maelyn Griffith was visiting an Arizona waterfall to celebrate her 40th birthday when she suddenly fell seriously ill, and the trip quickly turned into a nightmare, she told AZ Family.
“we [left] “We left early on the 6th and set up camp – it was a great campsite,” Griffiths said. “I was feeling nauseous and had some stomach problems and it just got worse.”
Another friend in her group also became seriously ill, and the group ended up walking several miles back to a canyon village to receive treatment.
“The doctor noticed that we had very high temperatures – mine was 104 and my friend’s was 105. We were extremely sick. They determined it was life-threatening so they were able to admit us to the clinic there,” Griffiths told the outlet.
Havasupai Falls is located on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in Coconino County. The Havasupai Visitors Bureau wrote in a Facebook post that the public water source on the reservation is regularly tested and was last deemed safe for drinking by the Havasupai Water Department on June 6.
