Grand Canyon hiker deaths rise amid intense heat, flash floods

Multiple hikers have died this summer in the Grand Canyon National Park — a U.S. West landscape known not only for its rugged beauty, but also for its perilous weather extremes.

Within the past week, National Park Service (NPS) officials have reported three fatalities in a region plagued by both excessive, dry heat and flood-fueled river rapids.

Rescue personnel on Wednesday located the body of a 60-year-old man who had lost contact with family on a solo, multiday trip on Thunder River Trail in the park’s north.