Father, daughter die at Canyonlands National Park after running out of water in 100-degree heat
The tragedy marks the latest fatalities this summer at National Parks in the West, including at Grand Canyon and Death Valley national parks. A record heat wave has claimed dozens of lives in Arizona, California, Utah and Oregon.
Exploring Utah's Canyonlands National Park for National Parks Week
FOX Weather's Robert Ray takes us on a tour of the picturesque and rugged landscape that awaits explorers in Utah's Canyonlands National Park.
MOAB, Utah – Rangers say a father and his daughter died Friday after getting lost in Utah's Canyonlands National Park and running out of water in triple-digit temperatures.
According to the National Park Service, the 52-year-old man and his 23-year-old daughter from Green Bay, Wisconsin, were hiking on the Syncline Trail when they got lost and ran out of water.
The air temperature in Moab on Friday afternoon was 100 degrees. Like much of the western U.S. facing a deadly heat wave, Moab is under a heat advisory. Air temperatures are forecast to hit 105 degrees on Sunday.
FILE: Hikers at Grand View Point in the Isle of Sky district at Canyonlands National Park in Utah. (NPS Photo by Neal Herbert)
(FOX Weather)
Rangers with the National Park Service said San Juan County Dispatchers received a 911 text from a person in the Island of the Sky district of Canyonlands on Friday afternoon.
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Rangers and the Bureau of Land Management Moab District Helitack personnel responded to the emergency call and initiated a search for the father and daughter. By the time the pair were found, they were already dead, according to the NPS.
San Juan County Sheriff's Office and NPS are investigating the incident.
The tragedy marks the latest fatalities this summer at National Parks in the West. Several hikers unprepared for triple-digit temperatures have died in Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park. In California, a motorcycle rider died when temperatures soared to 128 degrees in Death Valley.
National Park Service rangers advise visitors to avoid hiking during peak heating in the afternoon and to bring ample water on hikes.