Grand Canyon’s summer heat kills: Stay safe hiking
Summer is peak visitor season at Grand Canyon National Park. It’s also one of the most dangerous times to hike there due to scorching hot temperatures. It is so hot, the park noted in a recent tweet, that the soles of hiking boots can melt.
One hiker has died in Grand Canyon this summer and the park has reported multiple search and rescue incidents from heat-related ailments. On hot days, the temperature at the bottom of the canyon around Phantom Ranch can be 20 degrees hotter than at the rim due to the difference in elevation and heat radiating from the rocks.
Hikers get into trouble because it is so easy to hike down into the canyon compared to hiking out, Grand Canyon spokeswoman Joelle Baird said.
Grand Canyon’s Preventive Search and Rescue team
Baird said that hiking down to the Colorado River and back up is a “reverse mountain effect” where the more challenging part of the hike comes later rather than at the beginning. This can leave people unprepared for the round trip.
She said rangers from the park’s Preventive Search and Rescue team patrol popular trails like Bright Angel and South Kaibab in the summer to talk with hikers and make sure they are prepared to descend. They also make sure visitors are trying for a manageable hiking distance based on their skill level. Last year, the team contacted over 160,000 hikers on the trails.
“The day of the heat fatality, there was a high temperature of 114 as a shade temperature,” Baird said, adding that many hikers don’t realize the temperatures in the sun are even hotter.
What are the dangers of hiking in extreme heat?
Heat-related ailments like heat exhaustion and heatstroke happen at Grand Canyon every year. Baird said there were 328 search and rescue operations in the park in 2019 and many of them happened in the summer when heat was a factor. Dr. Devin Minior, the chief medical officer for Banner Urgent Care, said muscle cramps, headaches, nausea and vomiting are symptoms of heat exhaustion that can progress to the more serious heatstroke.
Don’t assume that simply drinking more water will protect you. Drinking too much water can cause hyponatremia. Minior said excess water dilutes the salt in your body, which makes your sodium levels drop dangerously low. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, confusion and seizures.
Both hyponatremia and heatstroke can be life threatening and require immediate
medical attention.
How to avoid heat-related illness
The Grand Canyon’s website has suggestions for safer summer hiking. A major one is to not hike in the heat of the day and avoid being active between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Water is also critical — but hikers are advised to only drink when they are thirsty. Minior said that hikers should consume a sports drink that contains electrolytes or eat snacks that contain salt to avoid hyponatremia.
Another crucial tip that can help avoid needing a rescue mission: Be conservative planning your hike.
“A lot of people don’t plan ahead,” Baird said, “so they might not realize how challenging and difficult hike is that they’re preparing to do.”