HikeArizona.COM

We saw the choppers but didn't know it was a fatality. Drink plenty of fluids everyone!

https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/05/man ... ave-creek/

Update: The group of 6 were hiking the Elephant Mountain Loop. They ran out of water 1/2 of the way into the hike @109 degrees. The man that passed away was in his 30's and two others in his group also had to be airlifted out from the main parking area.

I heard three Phoenix firefighters had to be hospitalized just from reading the article about the rescue.

LosDosSloFolks wrote:The group of 6 were hiking the Elephant Mountain Loop.

were they out-of-towners?

@DixieFlyer
I don't know if they were locals or not, but I'll find out from Kevin the ranger up there. They were only 4 miles into the hike when their water ran out. Not prepared by any means, that's for certain.

@LosDosSloFolks
it sounds like they just had a bottle of water in their hand...even in the wintertime I'd have 2+ liters of water with me on that hike

He was a physician doing a residency at the Barrow Neurological Institute, which is known as one of the best worldwide. Wasn't an out of town tourist, but I don't believe he'd be here for all too long either as he just finished his first year in the residency; originally he was from Oregon.

32 years old, leaving behind his wife and infant daughter.

After reading the story you have to wonder who planned this hike. The area they were hiking in doesn’t have a lot of shade. I don’t know why their phones were dead as they met someone who let them use their phone to call 911. Obviously, they didn’t have a map as they were lost as well. Very tragic

This area can be tricky for newbies. From the TH, you enter a county park, which has very easy and smooth trails. Then once you get outside the county park boundary, you're on Tonto NF trails, which are notoriously more rugged and difficult to hike. If someone isn't aware of that and has hiked in the county or municipal parks only prior to going to this area, I could see how someone could easily get into a difficult situation. I think the maps provided by the county note the Tonto trails as more difficult to hike, but I can't recall seeing any very obvious signs along the trails warning you that you're getting into more difficult terrain.

I read they were hiking the Elephant Mountain Loop which is within Spur Cross boundaries. The trail is not maintained and is in poor condition past the Tortuga if you are hiking CCW. It's rough but still better than the Tonto trails like #252 or #247 @DarthStiller mentioned. There are two signs prior to the climb warning you to proceed at your own risk. They made it 4 miles before running out of water which should have put them up near or even at the saddle. Not sure how you could get lost up there with the views. At the base of the mountain there is a section of wash walking which could be confusing for some.
This morning we watched a TV10 interview with the deceased mans wife. Really sad and difficult to watch her emotions.

Lost with no water at 109 degrees