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October proved to be a particularly unforgiving month for six National Parks in the West, with rangers recording six deaths and two serious injuries, mostly from falls.
The parks recording deaths or injuries during the month include Zion, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Redwood National and State Parks.
"What we deal with is that the National Parks offer visitors a uniqueness of natural wonder, and while visitors come to enjoy the splendor, there is great risk that can come with being in rugged areas," J.D. Lee, Intermountain Region Chief Ranger for the National Parks Service, told OldWestNewWest.Com. "Folks can sometimes get caught up in the beauty of it all, and the tranquility, and not be as careful as they should be."
Sometimes visitors literally can get too close to the edge, Lee said, often resulting in serious injury to the person, or even death.
"When you're here (at any park) you have to pay attention," he added. "Our National Parks offer unequalled recreational opportunities, and while a lot of these opportunities are beautiful, there can be risks. Our goal is to educate and encourage our visitors to be as prepared as possible when they're recreating."
October's Deadly and Near Fatal Incidents
Here is a summary of the incidents that happened in October:
At Zion National Park in Utah, James Welton, 34, of Durango, Colorado, fell to his death on Oct. 17 while climbing a popular climbing route called "Touchstone."
Around 7:15 p.m., two climbers who were ascending a nearby route, stopped a Zion Canyon shuttle bus and reported that another climber had fallen. Rangers on scene determined that Welton had fallen approximately 300 feet and confirmed it was a fatality. His two climbing partners witnessed the fall.
"Touchstone," located across the canyon from Angels Landing, is one of the most popular big wall climbs in the park.
More than 1,000 feet high from river to rim, it is usually a two-day climb requiring an overnight stay on a "port-a-ledge," a cot-like device attached to the wall. Welton was considered a very experienced climber and had recently completed a climb of El Capitan in Yosemite, rangers said.
This was the first fatality in the park for 2008, and the sixth climbing fatality since 1983. Rangers said that a preliminary investigation revealed that Welton was climbing a rope using mechanical ascenders. It appears that a short fall occurred, causing the ascenders to sever the rope, rangers said.
At Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California, a visitor died after falling more than 200 feet. Rangers were contacted by park dispatch at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 17 and advised that a man had fallen over a cliff edge near Point Bonita.
Rangers and Presidio fire and EMS personnel responded from Marin Headlands and came upon two men and a woman along the cliff's edge. Rangers interviewed the three and determined that a friend who was with them had been walking along a social trail, stumbled, and fallen 200 feet to the bottom.
Due to the extremely steep terrain and darkness, a Coast Guard helicopter and a 47-foot motor lifeboat responded to the area. They located the man, and a Coast Guard rescue swimmer determined that he'd died in the fall. Recovery efforts took extra time because the vessel could not get close enough, and the helicopter had to be refueled. The body was finally retrieved at 4:30 a.m. and transported to Fort Baker.
At Redwood National and State Parks in California, a woman died from head injuries sustained after a 200-foot fall.
On the afternoon of Oct. 16, 20-year-old visitor Brittany Hutchinson sustained critical injuries after falling at the Crescent Beach overlook. Moments before her fall, rangers said, a member of Hutchinson's party saw her exploring the area by scrambling on a particularly steep and dangerous scree slope that terminates in a vertical drop.
A California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) law enforcement ranger scrambled down the steep slope along an alternate route, located Hutchinson near the bottom of the slope, and began resuscitating the gravely injured woman.
A National Park Service protection ranger and a member of the Del Norte County SAR team carried an EMS pack to their location and joined the CDPR ranger in providing medical care. A Coast Guard helicopter arrived within an hour and flew Hutchinson to Humboldt County's St Joseph Hospital, where she was pronounced dead within minutes of arrival in the emergency room.
At Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, on Oct. 22 rangers recovered the body of Richard Jenkins, 58, of Chicago, Illinois.
Rangers said park dispatch was notified of an abandoned duffle bag that had been turned in at the Yavapai Observation Station. Rangers responding to the scene were shown where the duffle bag was found. During the subsequent search of the area, they spotted what appeared to be a body about 300 feet below the rim.
An observer in the park helicopter confirmed their observation. Park staff hiked down to the Tonto Plateau and crossed over to the body's location below and just east of Yavapai Point. When they arrived there, they found Jenkins' body.
Also at Grand Canyon National Park, at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Oct. 6, the dispatch center received a report of someone falling over the edge at the first turnout on Desert View Drive. Upon arriving at the scene, rangers spotted a man approximately 250 feet below the rim.
Rescue personnel quickly hiked to his location and determined that he had died in the fall. His body was then lifted out of the canyon by helicopter using a long-line operation and transferred to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office. The man later was identified as 47-year-old Michael S. Wilson of Scottsdale, Arizona.
At Glacier National Park in Montana, on Oct. 29 the body of a missing hiker was found by searchers along Kintla Lake in the remote North Fork area. The man's body was found on a slope above the trail near the head of Kintla Lake.
More than 30 people were involved in the search, including NPS personnel, U.S. Border Patrol agents, Flathead County Sheriff's Office search and rescue personnel, and FBI agents.
Initial NPS search efforts began on Oct. 23 after the man failed to call for a pickup from an acquaintance, as expected. The man had flown to Flathead Valley on Oct. 7. The next day, he was dropped off in the park's North Fork area near Kintla Lake.
He was contacted by a park ranger that day at the Kintla Lake campground, where he planned to spend the night. He told the ranger he intended to go hiking in the park and was advised that a backcountry permit would be required to camp overnight in the backcountry. Rangers said he was gone the next morning.
Park staff had had no other contact with the man since the morning of Oct. 9. He did not obtain a backcountry permit, they said. Park officials later were contacted by the acquaintance who'd dropped the man off in the park. The missing man had left luggage and belongings at an area hotel and indicated that he would be in contact in a couple of weeks. The acquaintance became concerned when there was no word from him after two weeks, and called the park.
Prior to this notification, the NPS had received no notification or indication that the man was missing, rangers said. After front country campgrounds were checked throughout the park on Friday and Saturday, an initial aerial and ground search was conducted on Sunday by park personnel. They hiked and searched the main trail corridors in the vicinity of Kintla Lake, including the Bowman Lake drainage, and the trail system leading to Goat Haunt, but no clues or evidence were found. The man's name is being withheld pending notification of family.
Two Hikers Who Survived Falls
At Grand Canyon National Park, on Oct. 19 Nic Korte, a 59-year-old backpacker, was seriously injured in a fall while hiking with two companions near Tapeats Cave in a remote area below the North Rim.
Korte fell 30 feet down a 40-degree slope, then off a 20-foot drop into a dry stream bed with large boulders. Korte's son-in-law, a Grand Junction (Colorado) firefighter, ran 10 miles to the Colorado River to summon assistance.
There he contacted members of a river trip with a satellite phone. Park rescue personnel responded by NPS helicopter just before sunset. Due to the late hour and remoteness of the site, it wasn't possible to land, so ranger/paramedic Brandon Torres was dropped off at a nearby point and hiked to Korte's location. Torres treated him throughout the night.
On Monday morning, park personnel conducted a helicopter short-haul evacuation from below Tapeats Cave. Korte was flown three miles, along with Torres, to the Surprise Valley area.
At Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, on Oct. 20 rangers were notified of a climbing accident on the Stoned Oven route (rated 5.11+, between difficult and very difficult) around mid-afternoon.
Michael Walsh, 30, who was roped and wearing a climbing helmet, had fallen 30 to 40 feet while leading the fourth pitch of the route several hours earlier, sustaining life-threatening injuries. Walsh was lowered to the base of the climb by his partners, who then ascended 1,700 feet to the rim of the canyon via Cruise Gully to seek assistance.
A team responded immediately, descending down the gully, which has sections of technical terrain and requires about 250 feet of rappelling. Although their response time was slowed slightly by rain, they reached Walsh just after 5 p.m.
Due to the nature of Walsh's injuries, the park SAR team, assisted by members of Western State SAR, began a rescue operation despite the approaching darkness. A park SAR team member was lowered from the rim to the canyon floor in the area of the Hallucinogen Wall route (rated 5.10, A3+).
A litter carry was made from the base of the Stoned Oven route to the haul lines, and Walsh and a rescuer were then hauled 1,500 vertical feet to the canyon rim, arriving there around 11 p.m.
Walsh was then flown to a hospital via air ambulance, where he is doing well but may undergo surgery to repair a broken pelvis. The entire rescue operation took less than nine hours from the time of first notification to its conclusion.
The parks recording deaths or injuries during the month include Zion, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Redwood National and State Parks.
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Sometimes visitors literally can get too close to the edge, Lee said, often resulting in serious injury to the person, or even death.
"When you're here (at any park) you have to pay attention," he added. "Our National Parks offer unequalled recreational opportunities, and while a lot of these opportunities are beautiful, there can be risks. Our goal is to educate and encourage our visitors to be as prepared as possible when they're recreating."
October's Deadly and Near Fatal Incidents
Here is a summary of the incidents that happened in October:
At Zion National Park in Utah, James Welton, 34, of Durango, Colorado, fell to his death on Oct. 17 while climbing a popular climbing route called "Touchstone."
Around 7:15 p.m., two climbers who were ascending a nearby route, stopped a Zion Canyon shuttle bus and reported that another climber had fallen. Rangers on scene determined that Welton had fallen approximately 300 feet and confirmed it was a fatality. His two climbing partners witnessed the fall.
"Touchstone," located across the canyon from Angels Landing, is one of the most popular big wall climbs in the park.
More than 1,000 feet high from river to rim, it is usually a two-day climb requiring an overnight stay on a "port-a-ledge," a cot-like device attached to the wall. Welton was considered a very experienced climber and had recently completed a climb of El Capitan in Yosemite, rangers said.
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At Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California, a visitor died after falling more than 200 feet. Rangers were contacted by park dispatch at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 17 and advised that a man had fallen over a cliff edge near Point Bonita.
Rangers and Presidio fire and EMS personnel responded from Marin Headlands and came upon two men and a woman along the cliff's edge. Rangers interviewed the three and determined that a friend who was with them had been walking along a social trail, stumbled, and fallen 200 feet to the bottom.
Due to the extremely steep terrain and darkness, a Coast Guard helicopter and a 47-foot motor lifeboat responded to the area. They located the man, and a Coast Guard rescue swimmer determined that he'd died in the fall. Recovery efforts took extra time because the vessel could not get close enough, and the helicopter had to be refueled. The body was finally retrieved at 4:30 a.m. and transported to Fort Baker.
At Redwood National and State Parks in California, a woman died from head injuries sustained after a 200-foot fall.
On the afternoon of Oct. 16, 20-year-old visitor Brittany Hutchinson sustained critical injuries after falling at the Crescent Beach overlook. Moments before her fall, rangers said, a member of Hutchinson's party saw her exploring the area by scrambling on a particularly steep and dangerous scree slope that terminates in a vertical drop.
A California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) law enforcement ranger scrambled down the steep slope along an alternate route, located Hutchinson near the bottom of the slope, and began resuscitating the gravely injured woman.
A National Park Service protection ranger and a member of the Del Norte County SAR team carried an EMS pack to their location and joined the CDPR ranger in providing medical care. A Coast Guard helicopter arrived within an hour and flew Hutchinson to Humboldt County's St Joseph Hospital, where she was pronounced dead within minutes of arrival in the emergency room.
At Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, on Oct. 22 rangers recovered the body of Richard Jenkins, 58, of Chicago, Illinois.
Rangers said park dispatch was notified of an abandoned duffle bag that had been turned in at the Yavapai Observation Station. Rangers responding to the scene were shown where the duffle bag was found. During the subsequent search of the area, they spotted what appeared to be a body about 300 feet below the rim.
An observer in the park helicopter confirmed their observation. Park staff hiked down to the Tonto Plateau and crossed over to the body's location below and just east of Yavapai Point. When they arrived there, they found Jenkins' body.
Also at Grand Canyon National Park, at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Oct. 6, the dispatch center received a report of someone falling over the edge at the first turnout on Desert View Drive. Upon arriving at the scene, rangers spotted a man approximately 250 feet below the rim.
Rescue personnel quickly hiked to his location and determined that he had died in the fall. His body was then lifted out of the canyon by helicopter using a long-line operation and transferred to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office. The man later was identified as 47-year-old Michael S. Wilson of Scottsdale, Arizona.
At Glacier National Park in Montana, on Oct. 29 the body of a missing hiker was found by searchers along Kintla Lake in the remote North Fork area. The man's body was found on a slope above the trail near the head of Kintla Lake.
More than 30 people were involved in the search, including NPS personnel, U.S. Border Patrol agents, Flathead County Sheriff's Office search and rescue personnel, and FBI agents.
Initial NPS search efforts began on Oct. 23 after the man failed to call for a pickup from an acquaintance, as expected. The man had flown to Flathead Valley on Oct. 7. The next day, he was dropped off in the park's North Fork area near Kintla Lake.
He was contacted by a park ranger that day at the Kintla Lake campground, where he planned to spend the night. He told the ranger he intended to go hiking in the park and was advised that a backcountry permit would be required to camp overnight in the backcountry. Rangers said he was gone the next morning.
Park staff had had no other contact with the man since the morning of Oct. 9. He did not obtain a backcountry permit, they said. Park officials later were contacted by the acquaintance who'd dropped the man off in the park. The missing man had left luggage and belongings at an area hotel and indicated that he would be in contact in a couple of weeks. The acquaintance became concerned when there was no word from him after two weeks, and called the park.
Prior to this notification, the NPS had received no notification or indication that the man was missing, rangers said. After front country campgrounds were checked throughout the park on Friday and Saturday, an initial aerial and ground search was conducted on Sunday by park personnel. They hiked and searched the main trail corridors in the vicinity of Kintla Lake, including the Bowman Lake drainage, and the trail system leading to Goat Haunt, but no clues or evidence were found. The man's name is being withheld pending notification of family.
Two Hikers Who Survived Falls
At Grand Canyon National Park, on Oct. 19 Nic Korte, a 59-year-old backpacker, was seriously injured in a fall while hiking with two companions near Tapeats Cave in a remote area below the North Rim.
Korte fell 30 feet down a 40-degree slope, then off a 20-foot drop into a dry stream bed with large boulders. Korte's son-in-law, a Grand Junction (Colorado) firefighter, ran 10 miles to the Colorado River to summon assistance.
There he contacted members of a river trip with a satellite phone. Park rescue personnel responded by NPS helicopter just before sunset. Due to the late hour and remoteness of the site, it wasn't possible to land, so ranger/paramedic Brandon Torres was dropped off at a nearby point and hiked to Korte's location. Torres treated him throughout the night.
On Monday morning, park personnel conducted a helicopter short-haul evacuation from below Tapeats Cave. Korte was flown three miles, along with Torres, to the Surprise Valley area.
At Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, on Oct. 20 rangers were notified of a climbing accident on the Stoned Oven route (rated 5.11+, between difficult and very difficult) around mid-afternoon.
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A team responded immediately, descending down the gully, which has sections of technical terrain and requires about 250 feet of rappelling. Although their response time was slowed slightly by rain, they reached Walsh just after 5 p.m.
Due to the nature of Walsh's injuries, the park SAR team, assisted by members of Western State SAR, began a rescue operation despite the approaching darkness. A park SAR team member was lowered from the rim to the canyon floor in the area of the Hallucinogen Wall route (rated 5.10, A3+).
A litter carry was made from the base of the Stoned Oven route to the haul lines, and Walsh and a rescuer were then hauled 1,500 vertical feet to the canyon rim, arriving there around 11 p.m.
Walsh was then flown to a hospital via air ambulance, where he is doing well but may undergo surgery to repair a broken pelvis. The entire rescue operation took less than nine hours from the time of first notification to its conclusion.
