GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Sept. 10, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A man on a river trip in the Grand Canyon has died, the fourth visitor fatality in the park in a 15-day span.
The National Park Service said that on Saturday, Sept. 7 at approximately 5:30 a.m., the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a call reporting a fatality at Poncho’s Kitchen, near river mile 137 along the Colorado River.
“Park rangers responded to the scene and found the victim, Patrick Horton, 59, of Salida, Colorado. Horton was on the 10th day of a non-commercial river trip along the Colorado River and was discovered deceased by members of his party.”
The National Park Service is conducting an investigation in coordination with the Coconino County (Ariz.) Medical Examiner’s Office.
On Aug. 28 a 60-year-old backpacker died during a multi-day hike near Thunder River Trail. That morning, National Park Service (NPS) search and rescue personnel, responding via helicopter, located the deceased individual along a route connecting Lower Tapeats Camp and Deer Creek Camp, officials said. The backpacker, from North Carolina, was on a solo multi-day backpacking trip
On Aug. 25 an 80-year-old man drowned after his boat flipped in the Fossil Rapids area of the Colorado River.
That same day the body of a 33-year-old Arizona woman was recovered who had been swept away three days earlier by flash flooding In Havasu Canyon.
