A woman believed to be hiking in Zion National Park has fallen about 1,000 feet to her death from Scout Lookout.
The death is the third reported in the park this week. On Sunday the bodies of two young men thought to be trying to raft through the Zion Narrows on a log-built raft were recovered from the Virgin River.
The latest fatality was reported Tuesday afternoon by other hikers near Scout Lookout, which is a viewpoint about 1,000 feet above the floor of Zion Canyon and on the way to Angels Landing.
According to a release from the park, information from other hikers helped to determine the location where the fall occurred and the area to be searched below Scout Lookout. A body was sighted on a ledge approximately 1,000 feet below Scout Lookout. To reach the location, rangers had to cross the Virgin River, flowing over 400 cubic feet per second at the time, ascend a steep slope and then use technical climbing skills to access the ledge.
With darkness approaching, it was decided to postpone the recovery effort until Wednesday morning for the safety of the recovery team. On Wednesday morning, the recovery team successfully brought the body down to the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive.
The woman, hiking alone and believed to be in her 60s, remains unidentified. Park Rangers are searching for unattended vehicles and checking with lodging facilities in the park and in Springdale.
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Comments
Amazing. They're dropping like flies in that park these days...
Don't know if statistics are kept on the park with the most visitor deaths but Zion has to be up there.
Zion really hasn't had that many fatalities compared to other large parks. This makes only the 7th or 8th death from Angel's landing (or near it) in 101 years. When it comes to NPS units, the parkways usually lead in the number of deaths due to all the vehicle accidents. In National Parks I'm pretty sure Grand Canyon leads the pack with Yosemite not that far behind. And Mesa Verde has had way more deaths than Zion but since they aren't 1000 ft falls they usually don't receive a lot of attention.
It seems like so many people have been falling in Zion lately. I wonder which National Park has the most deadly falls...
You should check your stats before you make up numbers...7-8 is not even close.
From what I can find online, this was the ninth fatality on Angel's Landing. One site suggests that this number is only from 1983 to the present. I can only imagine that there have been many, many more fatal falls since the trail was carved into the incised meander in 1926. Probably even more before that as well, but I don't see the statistics online. "Anonymous," maybe you can gleam more light on the subject rather than to just scoff at those who have responded.
As of July 21, 2006, Zion National Park estimated that 5 people had fallen from Angel's Landing since the Park's establishment (1909)
http://www.nps.gov/zion/frequently-asked-questions-about-zions-hiking-tr...
Q. How many fatalities from "falling" have occured in Zion National Park?
A. Below is a list of fatalities from "falling" in Zion National Park, dating back to the parks establishment. The info below is incomplete. The below list includes only incidents where suspicious activity was not involved.
Angels Landing 5
Cathedral Mountain 1
Emerald Pools 7
Lady Mountain 2+
Mt. Kinesava 1
Mt. of the Sun 1
Observation Point 2
Watchman 2
East Rim Trail 1
Checkerboard Mesa 1
Crazy Quilt Mesa 1
Deer Trap Mountain 1
Hidden Canyon 2
Canyon Overlook 2
I completely agree with you. By the way, have you ever heard of a kid, near the age of twelve, falling to her death. Just a shot in the dark, but we're curious. Please respond.