Re: Grand Canyon Hiker Death

Sept 23:
Body Of Missing Hiker Found Off North Rim Trail

Park rangers recovered the body of a man yesterday in an area below the North Rim near the Toroweap Valley. The man’s wife had called park dispatch around 10:30 on Monday night and reported her husband overdue. The man had started a day hike around 9:00 a.m. Monday on a trail known as the Lava Falls Route. He had planned on hiking to the Colorado River and back, a round trip distance of approximately three miles. When he failed to return by dusk, his wife drove from the Toroweap Valley to Fredonia, Arizona, a three hour drive, to report him overdue. Two rangers went to the trailhead Monday night to set up a containment area and to stage for an early morning search. An aerial search of the Lava Falls Route began yesterday morning at approximately 8:50 a.m.. The man’s body was found on the lower end of the route, just off trail, at approximately 9:20 a.m. Due to the steep and remote terrain, rangers were required to hike to the scene from a landing zone approximately one hour away. The man’s body was flown out to Kingman, then taken to the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office. Although the Lava Falls Route is one of the shortest routes from the rim to the river, it is a hot, steep and difficult route, with loose talus slopes made up of volcanic rock and an elevation change from rim to river of more than 2500 feet. The trailhead is approximately three miles south of the Tuweep Campground in a remote area of the Grand Canyon. Tuweep is a five hour drive from the North Rim developed area. The man’s name and hometown/state are being held pending notification of family members.


Sept 26th
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Hiker Died Of Injuries Incurred In Fall

The identity of the hiker whose body was found on Tuesday has been determined, as has the cause of death. Thomas Peake, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, died from injuries sustained in a fall of about 15 feet while hiking on the North Rim’s Lava Falls Route. Rangers found Peake’s body on the lower end of the route during an aerial search Tuesday morning after his wife had reported him overdue. Although the Lava Falls Route is one of the shortest routes from the rim to the river, it is a hot, steep and difficult route, with loose talus slopes made up of volcanic rock and an elevation change from rim to river of more than 2500 feet. The trailhead is approximately three miles south of the Tuweep Campground, in a remote area of the Grand Canyon. Tuweep is a five hour drive from the North Rim developed area.
Contact Information
Name: Maureen Oltrogge, Public Affairs Officer

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2009 08:52AM by Frank Furter.

Geez... A fall of 15 feet and that's it. Scary.

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Dr_Watso
Geez... A fall of 15 feet and that's it. Scary.

Ever fallen 15 feet?

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eeek

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Dr_Watso
Geez... A fall of 15 feet and that's it. Scary.

Ever fallen 15 feet?

Yes. I free-climb and boulder a good deal, I've had my lumps. I generally wear a helmet, but even with that, I shouldn't deny the reality of such falls. I couldn't walk on my ankle for a week after a fall of less than 15.

Looking at the bottom of a 6' deep empty swimming pool looks like a canyon.

Not unless you need it to.

I tried to look up some medical trauma studies of falls. The mortality is related to surface, body part impacted initially, age, distance fallen, time to effective care, etc. Hard to do a study of this sort of thing. But it looks like a fall of 10 ft landing on one's head on hard surface would have about at least a 50% mortality . Falls under the best of circumstances from more than 50 ft onto solid surfaces have very high mortality.

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

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Vince
Not unless you need it to.

Need to? Need what what???

Sometimes your inchoate posts are a bit confusing.

I was reminded that people die after falling in the bathtub (empty)

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Bee
I was reminded that people die after falling in the bathtub (empty)

You sure they didn't die and then fall?

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eeek

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Bee
I was reminded that people die after falling in the bathtub (empty)

You sure they didn't die and then fall?

They slipped, fell, and died of head trauma.