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US News

Grand Canyon hiker from Ohio dies in extreme 115-degree heat

By
Joshua Rhett Miller
Published June 22, 2021
Updated June 22, 2021, 3:00 p.m. ET

An Ohio woman hiking the Grand Canyon died of suspected heat-related illness as temperatures hit a scorching 115 degrees, park officials said.

Michelle Meder, 53, of Hudson, was on a backpacking trip over several days with friends when she became disoriented Saturday along the Hermit Trail in Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park and fell unconscious, park officials said in a statement Monday.

Authorities were notified of a backpacker having heat-related issues on the Tonto Trail near Monument Creek on Sunday afternoon and responded to find Meder dead.

Meder had become unconscious late Saturday, with some members of her group hiking down to the Colorado River to flag down a rafting group for help that called the park rangers, Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman Joelle Baird told The Post.

The rafting group used a satellite phone to contact the park rangers as Meder was in a “really remote” area, along the Tonto Trail, Baird said. Park rangers got the call Sunday afternoon, she said.

Michelle Meder reportedly collapsed from the heat along the Hermit Trail in the Grand Canyon. Alamy Stock Photo

Meder’s cause of death is believed to be heat-related, park officials said — as Sunday’s high temperature in the area rose to 115 degrees, which tied the previous record for that day.

“Pretty much anyone who is going to be hiking on the Tonto is going to feel the heat in some way,” Baird told The Post. “It’s just a matter of degree and severity.”

Temperatures on exposed areas of trails can exceed 120 degrees in the shade, and park officials advise against hiking the inner canyon between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. — when most people need emergency medical attention due to heat-related illnesses.

“Park rangers at Grand Canyon National Park are strongly urging visitors to Grand Canyon, especially inner canyon hikers and backpackers, to be prepared for excessively hot days in the coming weeks,” officials said.

Tuesday’s high at Phantom Ranch in Arizona is expected to reach 109 degrees, with wind gusts up to 25 mph, according to the National Weather Service. A heat warning remains in effect this week, with visitors urged to limit outdoor activities during daytime hours.

Temperatures along the South Rim, where some 90 percent of hikers visit, are roughly 20 degrees cooler than at the bottom of the massive canyon.

“It catches a lot of hikers, tourists coming in from out of the area off guard,” National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Taylor said. “And it’s very dry.”

Baird told the Associated Press Monday that heat-related illnesses have spiked recently, prompting park officials to recommend hikers wait out the blazing sun if possible.

“It’s just very unforgiving this time of year, even people who are acclimated, and fit and in shape,” Baird said. “They struggle. It can be really hard to thermal regulate if you’re not used to hiking in these elements, and you’re not getting proper nutrition and hydration.”

Baird did not immediately return a message early Tuesday seeking additional details about the response time to the incident.

With AP wires