Lava Falls Route claims another life

[hikeaz]

Date: July 8, 2010

Grand Canyon, Ariz. – Grand Canyon National Park rangers located the body of a female hiker today in an area below the North Rim of Grand Canyon near the Toroweap Valley. A man had called the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center last night at approximately 8:20 to report an overdue hiker. The female hiker had gone to Tuweap on Tuesday with the caller's son. The man indicated that his son was going to hike down Lava Falls Route to gain access to the Colorado River for a float trip. When the female failed to return home, the man became concerned and reported her overdue to the National Park Service.
Park rangers launched a search for the rafter this morning and located him on the river late in the morning. The young man indicated that he had last seen his hiking companion on Lava Falls Route at mid-day on Tuesday. Park rangers then began an aerial search of Lava Falls Route and located the body of a female at approximately 1:00 this afternoon. Her body will be flown to the Kingman Airport and transferred to the Mohave County Medical Examiner at the airport.
The young woman's name is being withheld pending positive identification by the Mohave County Medical Examiner and notification of next-of-kin.

A sad way to go - my heart goes out to family/friends. I cannot imagine being on that route on a July afternoon; black rock, facing south, no shade or water along the route and steep as hell.

[azbackpackr]

What was that young man thinking, bringing her there, and she wasn't even going on the float trip? How weird is that? That just pisses me off. Very sad, too, of course, but it also pisses me off.

[PaleoRob]

Maybe she was the shuttle car driver, and she wanted to see the river? No indication that he made her do anything.

[fotogirl53]

Free will on her part. No one "makes" you do anything.

[azbackpackr]

No, but inexperienced people can be talked into doing things they have no business doing, by other people who have unreasonable expectations of their abilities.

There is a sort of syndrome where people don't have enough experience to know that they don't have enough experience. Happens all the time. Usually we call it the "school of hard knocks." Sometimes it is not a school but a death sentence.

[chumley]

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK - Grand Canyon National Park rangers released the identity of a woman whose body was recovered from the North Rim.

She is 22-year-old Kathryn Roth of Springfield, Utah.

Sad. Way too young.

[Vaporman]

Very sad to hear...

[John9L]

Very sad! I'm unclear on what was the cause of death. Was it a fall, dehydration or something else?


EDIT - Fox News just said it was a fall. Sounded awful

[azbackpackr]

Oh, that's very sad.

[PaleoRob]

No, but inexperienced people can be talked into doing things they have no business doing, by other people who have unreasonable expectations of their abilities.

True, but again, this is an assumption. We have no idea of this young lady's skill level. Saying that the guy forced her down the trail and that she was automatically inexperienced sounds a lot like one of the leaps that I know you dislike regarding gender and assumptions...

[azbackpackr]

Well, yes, I see what you are saying, since we don't know the situation at all. For all we know she was a real canyoneer...

[RedRoxx44]

I was a teenager on a summer drive/sightseeing trip with my parents and did that route in blue jeans and a bottle of water in June I think some 35 years ago. It was hell I can tell you. And didn't even have the concept of a camera. Condolences to the family.