Grand Canyon Hiker Succumbs To Suspected Heat Exposure After Temperature Top 100 Degrees

A 49-year-old California woman who died last week at Grand Canyon National Park possibly had fallen prey to the overbearing heat that day, park officials said.

Catherine Houe, of Daly City, was being accompanied by her husband and a friend to the hike June 24. The trio was planning to spend the night at Phantom Ranch, a lodge inside the Grand Canyon, ABC 15 reported, citing the park officials.

As soon as they scaled four miles down the South Kaibab Trail, Houe became dizzy, disoriented, and then stopped breathing," her family reportedly told the responding officials.

The Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center was alerted to the incident shortly after 8:30 p.m. CPR was performed on the woman but officials failed to revive her.

Park officials said the victim died from suspected heat exposure after the temperatures at the Phantom Ranch reached over 114 degrees that day. The National Park Service and Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office are jointly investigating the incident.

With Houe’s death, the National Park Service reported this year’s first fatality in the Grand Canyon. The park was closed to visitors on April 1 due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic and started partially reopening on May 15.

Officials with the National Park Service are urging visitors to be prepared for extreme heat in the coming weeks, given temperatures on the trails have a propensity to soar past 120 degrees in the shade. Hiking in intense heat leads to heat exhaustion, heatstroke, hyponatremia and death.

The National Park Service asks its visitors to hike before 10 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m. during the summertime, and avoid any outdoor activities through the day. “Anyone outside in the heat needs to balance food and water intake: drink when thirsty, and wet yourself down to stay cool,” the park said on its website.

Last year in June, a 77-year-old Australian man had died trying to swim through the Grand Canyon. The man was on a river trip when he drowned in the Colorado River, prompting his trip fellow members to rescue him and perform CPR. The responding park rangers airlifted his body to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office after failing to resuscitate him.