A 71-year-old man died at a trailhead in Death Valley National Park on Tuesday afternoon in what officials say may have been a heat-related fatality.
The man, who has not yet been identified, collapsed outside a restroom at Golden Canyon as temperatures soared to around 121 degrees Fahrenheit with actual temperatures inside Golden Canyon likely much higher due to canyon walls radiating the sun’s heat, the National Park Service said in a news release.
The man was wearing a sun hat and hiking clothes and had likely been hiking the popular trail, officials said.
Other park visitors noticed the man and called 911 at around 3:40 p.m. local time, the National Park Service said.
Park rangers responded minutes later, while an air helicopter was not able to be deployed due to the high temperature. Rescuers used CPR and an automated external defibrillator but were not able to save the man.
A cause of death has yet to be determined, but rangers suspected the heat was a factor, the National Park Service said.
The National Park Service said visitors were encouraged to visit Death Valley safely in the summer by sightseeing short distances from their air-conditioned cars or hiking in the park's cooler mountains. Hiking at low elevations is also not recommended after 10 a.m., it said.
The agency noted that this was possibly the second heat-related fatality in Death Valley this summer after a 65-year-old man died on July 3.
Death Valley has experienced at least 28 days of temperatures over 110 degrees so far this year, the agency said, citing the National Weather Service.
"Heat stroke sets in when the body’s core temperature rises above 104 degrees," it said.
ntgco on July 20th, 2023 at 15:39 UTC »
Years ago I was in Death Valley shooting photography in the middle of the Bad Water Basin salt flat. The day before I registered with the Park Ranger my location and times I would be out on the Salt Flat. I was fully packed for desert trek. Sunblock, light clothing, hats sunglasses, full 70oz camelback and food + 30lbs of photo gear.
The park ranger, THANKED ME for telling him and noted it. Then he spent the next 15 minutes with me recommending photo spots, but also precautions as temps the next day were going to climb to 115+. He told me to be walking into the salt flat before sunrise, then he mentioned when the Mountain's Shadow on the East, hits the salt flat -- start your return trip.
Well I missed the shadow hitting the valley floor, just because I was still in Mid-shoot. When I got done it was about 10:45 when I started my return trip. Temps when I started walking in the morning were about 80F. By 10:45 They were easily 95+F.
You could feel wind gusts traveling down the valley, each wind gust was a HOT wave filling the basin-- each one felt like another +5F.
I had walked about 3 miles into the Basin, so it took me about 2 hours to walk back, I had to be careful not to disturb the salt crystals. I was drinking the water and minding my heartrate. Never felt scared, or over worked, but F'N HELL-- by the time I approached the "tourist" areas of the path - the flattened trampled saltflat which stretches about 1/2mile out from the parking lot Temps were well above 100F.
I was a desert rat, sweating, I drank nearly 3/4 of my water supply in 3 miles. I was passing people walking INTO the saltflat, they had zero protection, no hats, tiny bottles of water -- I looked up and noticed a ranger vehicle in the lot. As I got closer I realized it was the park ranger I had spoken to the day before. He had huge binoculars scanning the saltflat. I walked up to him and he said "glad to see you made it back -- you missed the shadow." I laughed and said "Thank you -- I'm always racing the sun". He told me had been watching me for over an hour, and that I had done very well to step over the crystals.
THAT is why you always communicate with the Park Ranger - they have your back. I'm sure if he had seen me collapse he would have rushed out there.
TrapperJean on July 20th, 2023 at 14:33 UTC »
"Possibly heat-related" unless the dude was found crushed under an anvil or ran into a wall painted like a tunnel, there really aren't a ton of desert-related ways to die
hananobira on July 20th, 2023 at 13:35 UTC »
“Possible heat-related incident.” But sure, test him for arsenic and polar bear claw marks just in case.