29 year old woman died this afternoon at Picacho Peak

[JuanJaimeiii]

I was just alerted by Denny and confirmed that a 29 year old woman died this afternoon at Picacho Peak. She and her fiancé were hiking the Sunset Vista Trail. Authorities received a 911 call at 2:45pm. She was pronounced dead at 3:01. Officials believe the woman's death was heat related.

I did a search and found that two others had died of Heat in July of 2002 at Picacho Peak as well. A very sad day. This one strikes home.

[outdoor_lover]

You can't save them all John...

[The_Dude]

Just horrible! They have been closing Picacho for the summer the last few years, any idea why they did not close it this year? I had spoken with one of the rangers last year and he mentioned they close in the summer for just this reason, they end up having to do way more SAR work than the rest of the year. SO sad to hear...

[JuanJaimeiii]

It is so sad and I thought they were closing it due to financial reasons during the summer but that was just me speculating. Anyway I know firsthand that it can get extremely hot at Picacho in the summer. The heat seems to radiate off of the dark rock.

Personally I enjoy a good scorcher but it requires plenty of water and a solid understanding of what you are going into. I am terribly saddened by this event. My condolences to her fiancé and her family...

[big_load]

Very sad. Yesterday was not especially hot in simple temperature, but the humidity was awful. I worked outside in the desert all day and it was unpleasant, even at a near-sedentary level of activity. I had to take a few AC breaks in the car to keep a clear head and a good mood.