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How to Die in the National Parks

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    • How to Die in the National Parks

      I found this interesting. It's a survey of the number and cause of deaths in all US National Parks (except the newest one) over the last 10 years.

      outforia.com/danger-parks/

      The deadliest overall is the Grand Canyon, with by far the most medical (heart attacks trying to hike out?) and lots of environmental (heat stroke?), second to Denali (opposite of heat stroke?).
      The most likely way to die is by falling. Yosemite has a big lead here with 45 - enough to get it #2 overall. Way behind in the 20's are GC, SEKI, Zion, and the Tetons.
      GSMNP is #3 overall, thanks to lots and lots of fatal car accidents, almost 3X as many as the second in that category, Death Valley (what is there to hit in DV??).
      The third most likely way to die is "undetermined". Not sure what that is. I guess sometimes they don't bother asking the dead person what they died of.
      SEKI, Yellowstone, Denali, Mt Rainier and RMNP round out the top 8.

      BTW, for all of you worried about being killed by wild animals, they accounted for a whopping SIX!!! out of 1174 total deaths (3 in Ystone - grizzlies I assume) and 1 each in Olympic, Wrangall-St Elias, and Denali.
      But if you are worried about being killed by wild Homo sapiens, they've only killed 5 (2 in Joshua Tree and 1 each in RMNP, DV, and Redwood).

      And if you want to be safe, these parks have had no deaths: Gateway Arch (who made that a NP anyway?), Petrified Forest, Kenai Fjords, American Samoa, North Cascades, Isle Royale, Kobuk Valley, and Gates of the Arctic. The last 5 "benefit" from having the fewest potential victims due to few numbers of visitors. Plus the last three have no roads so it's had to have fatal car accidents.
    • " BTW, for all of you worried about being killed by wild animals, they accounted for a whopping SIX!!! out of 1174 total deaths (3 in Ystone - grizzlies I assume) and 1 each in Olympic, Wrangall-St Elias, and Denali.
      But if you are worried about being killed by wild Homo sapiens, they've only killed 5 (2 in Joshua Tree and 1 each in RMNP, DV, and Redwood).


      The book...Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite is really good. Chronicles and stats of all death known in park since white man took over the land. About 950 dead in yosemite alone. Lots went over water falls. Photo ops....are responsible for a bunch. Should be required reading for anyone visiting.

      Yup....wildlife accounts for virtually nil.

      Got a feeling that article is missing lots of data......looking at only last 10 yrs.

      The post was edited 5 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • odd man out wrote:

      BTW, for all of you worried about being killed by wild animals, they accounted for a whopping SIX!!! out of 1174 total deaths (3 in Ystone - grizzlies I assume) and 1 each in Olympic, Wrangall-St Elias, and Denali.
      But if you are worried about being killed by wild Homo sapiens, they've only killed 5 (2 in Joshua Tree and 1 each in RMNP, DV, and Redwood).

      I recall one person in yosemite dieing from being accidentally gored by a buck deer. A 5 yr old-ish boy i think. Several were murdered in Yosemite as well...one famous case that was on TV...kidnapped mother and daughter. They were kidnapped from a motel.....but murdered in Yosemite. One person was willingly murdered on glacier point overlook....before bloody killer swan dived to his death. Crazy people. National parks attract wackos. Also high # of suicides in national parks.

      • They recover a lot of bodies in Joshua Tree...not sure about 2...

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • Our trip to Yosemite was in August of a particularly deadly year. Several people had gone over the Falls on the Mist trails that spring and had not yet been recovered. There were signs on the Yosemite Falls trail about hikers who went up but never came down (at least not by the trail). We got up one morning and found right outside our lodge room door, a TV crew doing a broadcast for the The NBC Today about all the deaths. Then the day after we hiked the Mist Trail, it was closed to recover the bodies that had just been revealed by the drop in water levels. It was an especially wet summer that year, and the rivers were still fairly high, even into August. We were lucky to get to see the falls with so much water that time of year. We even had a view of Yosemite Falls from the patio out the back door of our lodge room. We were also lucky that we weren't the ones who spotted the bodies on the Mist Trail the day before.
    • When I was there I saw all sorts of clowns climbing over the railing for the perfect 'selfie.' People have no clue how slick wet algae covered rock can be.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • IMScotty wrote:

      When I was there I saw all sorts of clowns climbing over the railing for the perfect 'selfie.' People have no clue how slick wet algae covered rock can be.

      Yup.
      And playing in the water.....right upstream from 2000 ft water fall......insane.

      People think national parks are amusement parks......safety-fied for their protection. Also are totally unfamiliar with risks of extreme vertical terrain.

      The accounts of many deaths in Yosemite are sobering. Because split second simple mistakes.....and theres no second chance.

      Many people just fail to respect the extreme vertical terrain.

      Running on a trail.....right off into thin air....

      Trying to grab hat or water bottle that fell in stream

      Attempting risky photos....

      Attempting shortcuts....

      The Yosemite book is great....because theres so many lessons in it. You can learn from others bad experiences, and avoid repeating their mistakes. Whether its falls, drowning, hypothermia, snowbound, or getting lost and never seen again. It should be required reading for all visitors.

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • Reading that last post brought back flashbacks of my 2 year old son reaching to get his pacifier he dropped from the 8th floor outside our aprartment in Singapore. Way too close for comfort. :S
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Dads in Tucson so I try to read the newspaper there somewhat regualrly.

      A few times a year there are articles about people who either go hiking and run out of water (some are rescued, some are not) or fall off a cliff at the Grand Canyon.

      There is also a mountain near Phoenix where hikers and bikers run out of water waaaay too often. Last summer there was group of doctors -- who should know better! -- who were biking, ran out of water, and one of them passed away.

      I guess once a year hikers don't understand how much water is needed. In the summer. In Arizona.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      Dads in Tucson so I try to read the newspaper there somewhat regualrly.

      A few times a year there are articles about people who either go hiking and run out of water (some are rescued, some are not) or fall off a cliff at the Grand Canyon.

      There is also a mountain near Phoenix where hikers and bikers run out of water waaaay too often. Last summer there was group of doctors -- who should know better! -- who were biking, ran out of water, and one of them passed away.

      I guess once a year hikers don't understand how much water is needed. In the summer. In Arizona.
      One big advantage of hiking in the east and the AT in particular. Usually water is not an issue.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • odd man out wrote:

      I've been reading about getting GCNP permits. Apparently if you get a permit for hiking in the summer away from the corridor trails with water, you get an email that effectively says "congratulations, you got a permit, but if actually do this hike you're going to die".
      There was a pretty good documentary called "Into The Grand Canyon". Instead of a r2r, two guys hike the length of the canyon.
    • Astro wrote:

      Reading that last post brought back flashbacks of my 2 year old son reaching to get his pacifier he dropped from the 8th floor outside our aprartment in Singapore. Way too close for comfort. :S


      Had a crew of boy scouts at Philmont. Eating lunch on a smooth large exposed rounded granite outcrop, that dropped off steeply about 10 ft away. My son's water bottle got knocked over by another boy and started to roll away as the slope increased ...and he instinctively sprang up to get it.....gave me heart failure.....everyone got a stern talking to about what's important...and what isn't.