Woman falls to death at Grand Canyon after hiking off trail, taking photos

[marmar]

PHOENIX – The body of a 59-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona woman who park officials say accidentally stepped off the rim at the Grand Canyon was recovered Friday afternoon.

Maria A. Salgado Lopez was hiking off-trail and taking photographs with family when she fell from the rim west of Mather Point, park officials said.

The Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a report about the incident just after 12:30 p.m. Friday. Responding rangers found Lopez's body approximately 100 feet below the rim. .......(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/04/arizona-woman-falls-death-grand-canyon-after-hiking-off-trail/5377310002/

[Thomas Hurt]

1. When I read stories like this I think my fear of heights is a good thing.

Didn't stop me from 2 hiking trips to the Canyon over the years, but I am wary of getting too close to the edge of drops.

[packman]

2. Many years ago I was at the Canyon

And saw many stupid things there - a women holding a guy's hand as he leaned over the edge so he could take a photo down the wall of the cliff. A young boy reach under the rear of a donkey to grab its balls (He got a kick in the chest for that). A car full of idiots plowing thru a herd(?) of deer scattering them.

[2naSalit]

3. In Yellowstone, it's that time 75 on a daily basis...

Usually there's at least one bison goring or flinging, someone falls into the canyon, and every few years someone gets nailed by a bear.

People don't take any time to learn about the place they visit and are oblivious to many of the dangers they might encounter. They will jump in the car, drive for days to get there and not have a clue about elevation, the wildlife and that they should not approach them and they think the rules of safety are for someone other than them.

[Coventina]

4. An astounding number of people think National Parks equate to Disneyland

That they are somehow "safe" because the government runs them, and often there are crowds of people there.

It makes me wonder how we've survived as a species, and whether we deserve to do so.



On edit: can't use the equal sign in thread title.

[Kali]

5. yep

between the disneyfication and entitlement, nature sometimes scores a hit.

[obamanut2012]

6. They even don;t get Disney World isn't Disneyfied all the way

The shock from friends, the public, DU when the gator grabbed the little boy at night near the Grand Floridian that there were gators at Disney! Orlando is basically built on a swamp. They are all over -- even very occasionally inside the parks.

People do not think.

[Coventina]

8. I seem to remember that there was a sign by the water that said

"Caution, alligators in the water" or something to that effect.

I feel really bad for the kid.
Don't understand why a child that small was allowed to roam in gator habitat.

[2naSalit]

11. That's pretty much

the conclusion I came to after working in a big one for years. The attitudes and behaviors of tourists declined between 2007 and 2010 to such a low level with and overt lack of respect and actually berating the very concept of respect... for anything.

The consequences of our cavalier attitudes toward nature will soon be here to call us out in such a way that there is no question as to the choices we'll have.

[peggysue2]

7. Question: When will people learn?

Answer: Never!

These stories are all too common. Every year there are incidents at our national parks of people being foolish, reckless, arrogant.

It'd not nice to tempt Mother Nature. She'll always pay you back x 100.

All for a photograph.

[tblue37]

9. Park rangers call them tourons--tourists plus morons. nt

[2naSalit]

12. And in the private sector...

another good one is "swivelheads".

[Bucky]

10. Instead of focusing on the one person who fell in, let's celebrate the millions who didn't

Fun Fact: only 2-4 people fall to their deaths at the Grand Canyon every year.

https://www.mygrandcanyonpark.com/park/falling-to-death-grand-canyon

Odds of Death in the Grand Canyon - 1 in 400,000 Visitors

About 12 deaths happen each year at the Grand Canyon, including from natural causes, medical problems, suicide, heat, drowning and traffic crashes. On average, two to three deaths per year are from falls over the rim, park spokeswoman Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski says. Grand Canyon National Park had 6,254,238 visitors in 2017

[Awsi Dooger]

13. I've taken some unnecessary risks at Grand Canyon

Specifically at Shoshone Point about 8 or 9 years ago. I was so intent of snapping photos of the famous rock formation along the edge that I nearly slid off the left side maybe 30 or 40 feet beforehand.

I didn't notice the partially indented area over there. Fortunately only the left side of my left shoe barely caught the soft sand and I was able to move away upon noticing the granules of sand slowly shifting off the edge. It was a steep drop off through a narrow gap. If I had placed that left foot 6 inches more to the left I'm not sure anything would have saved me. I remember how numbed I was a half hour or so later when I walked back over there to evaluate my near miss.

Mather Point is prime tourist area. This lady probably didn't dare cross the fence in that area so she thought it was clever to move a bit wayward before getting closer to the edge.