Wild Accidents at Grand Canyon National Park

Hiking is always fun, but one should always take extra precaution when doing by yourself.  A body in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona was found by a rescue team on Saturday July 2009 believed to be that of a missing 20-year-old hiker, the National Park Service said. Bryce Gillies, a student at Northern Arizona University, left last Saturday for his backpacking trip through the Deer Creek-Thunder River area of the park, and said he would return on Monday. A search effort was launched on Tuesday after he was reported missing. This is the second death this month at Grand Canyon National Park which attracts around 5 million visitors yearly.

A California man drove his car over the edge of canyon’s South Rim, plunging some 600 feet into the ravine. His July 13 death was ruled a suicide. More than 100 hikers have died at the park between 1925 and 2006, half of them fatal falls, according to Michael Ghiglieri and Thomas Myers, authors of “Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon.”

Hiking Tips:

1. Travel in a large group
2. Bring along a GPS device
3. Tell you friends and family exactly where you are going
4. Use CB radio device to always be in contact with your group
5. Don’t perform any dangerous stunts on your hike