60-year-old solo backpacker from North Carolina found dead in Grand Canyon, rangers say
A 60-year-old backpacker was found dead in Arizona’s Grand Canyon after a worried family member never heard from him during his hike, park officials said.
The North Carolina man was reported missing at about 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, the National Park Service said in an Aug. 29 news release.
Rescuers searched for him by helicopter the next day and discovered his body at about 9:45 a.m. “along a route connecting Lower Tapeats Camp and Deer Creek Camp,” park officials said.
He had set out on a solo multi-day backpacking trip to hike the Thunder River Trail-Deer Creek loop, park officials said.
That loop is about 23 miles long, according to AllTrails. It’s described as a challenging route with an elevation gain of 6,604 feet.
The medical examiner and park officials are investigating.
His death comes days after an 80-year-old man died in the Grand Canyon after being thrown off a boat, McClatchy News reported.
He was on a commercial river trip Aug. 25 near Fossil Rapid on the Colorado River, officials said.
Before that, a 33-year-old woman died when she was caught in a flash flood Aug. 22, McClatchy News reported. She had been hiking the canyon with her husband in Havasu Creek when the two were swept away.
