The entrance to Keyhole Canyon in Zion National Park/Bret Edge/www.bretedge.com
A short, but technical, canyoneering route in Zion National Park turned deadly when heavy thunderstorms filled the tight slot canyon with water, killing at least six hikers while one was still missing Wednesday.
Roughly 60 personnel were searching Wednesday for the remaining individual. Four of the bodies were found Tuesday in and downstream of the canyon. Two more were found Wednesday.
“We are attempting to recover a few of the bodies that we found. Several of them have already been recovered," Aly Baltrus, the park's chief of interpretation, said Wednesday afternoon. "And then we are going to look at the forecast to see if it’s possible to do the two canyons (Keyhole and Pine Creek) and clear them. The search is continuing. If we can’t do it tonight, we’ll do it tomorrow.”
The Keyhole Canyon route on the eastern side of the park, just north of Route 9 as it enters the park, though only about two hours in length, is said to feature some of the coldest water in the park that canyoneers need to swim through. Some sections of the slot canyon, which requires some short rappels of about 30 feet, are only about four- or five-foot wide, and they filled quickly as storms Monday afternoon dropped more than a half-inch of rain between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
The seven canyoneers -- all in their 40s and 50s and from either California or Nevada -- had received a permit to enter the canyon shortly after 7:30 a.m. Monday, but were cautioned about the weather forecast.
“They were told flash flooding was probable, which means that it was likely that some of the canyons would flash flood," said Ms. Baltrus, adding that the Park Service can't deny a permit unless the canyons are officially closed.
At 2:22 p.m. Monday a flash flood warning was issued for the area and the park's canyons were closed to canyoneering.
At 5:30 p.m. Monday, "(A)nother canyoneering group who had been through Keyhole Canyon just before the flood reported to park rangers that they had passed a group of seven canyoneers and believed that they may have been caught in the flood. Rangers located the group’s vehicles, but did not see any sign of the group. Keyhole Canyon was already flash flooding. Due to weather at the time and through the evening, it was determined that rescue operations could not be safely initiated."
Another check for the missing seven was made at 9 p.m. Monday with no sightings.
At 7 a.m. Tuesday, though searchers could not enter the canyon itself due to weather conditions, they were able to walk along the rims and peer down into several sections. That searching, and calls into the canyon, failed to produce any sightings or response, the park said. At 1:30 p.m. one body was found, and an hour later another canyoneering group, which entered the canyon despite the weather outlook, found a second body in Keyhole Canyon.
By 4 p.m., searchers were checking Clear Creek, Pine Creek, and the Virgin River, and discovered a third body; a fourth was found shortly after 5 p.m. Details on those discoveries, and where the fifth and sixth bodies were found, were not being released out of courtesy to family members who came to the park after word of the tragedy spread.
Names were not being released, pending notification of kin.
Here's a short video of the route produced by Climb-Utah in 2011:
Zion's slot canyons are notoriously dangerous as thunderstorms miles away from the park can send flash floods through the narrow slots. Over the years a number of backcountry travelers have been killed by flood waters.
Sept. 27, 2014: Zion Narrows, flash flood -1 fatality
May 13, 2001: Drowning caught in a cloud burst at Canyon Overlook Trail - 1 fatality
July 1998: Zion Narrows flash flood -2 Fatalities
September 17, 1961: 26 hikers trapped in the Narrows because of flash flood - 5 fatalities
Ms. Baltrus said Wednesday that to the best of her knowledge there were no reports of missing persons elsewhere in the park's slot canyons.
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Comments
Very sad. I've never witnessed a flash flood in a canyon but hope if I ever do it's from the top. As someone who doesn't live in canyon country it is hard to grasp that a 1/2 inch of rain can be so deadly.
Sounds like it is up to 6 dead now with one still missing..... what a tragedy.
This is from the Salt Lake Tribune (hope it is ok to post info from another site).
Park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus "We worked so hard to talk to them about [not] trying to go into the canyon," Baltrus said. "Ultimately, it is the visitors' decision . . . whether they want to attempt that trip."
4:30 to 5:30 p.m. -- Zion Canyon received 0.63 inches of rain in less than one hour. Rangers noted Keyhole Canyon and several other canyons began to flash flood. The flow of the North Fork of the Virgin River rose abruptly from 55 Cubic Feet per Second (CFS) to 2,630 CFS in 15 minutes. The park receives levels this high approximately once every three years.
The trouble with flash floods is the word "flash."
My heart goes out to the families of the people who died.
ugh, this so sad. We just hiked near it two weeks ago. A little rain came, which freightened everyone with good reason. The water really has nothing to stop it and drains right in. May they rip.
This group was already in the canyon when a flash flood warning led park officials to announce they were closing their canyons. By that time, park officials say, there was no way to alert them to the violent floodwaters coming their way