FILE - Photo of Zion National Park Search and Rescue vehicle, undated | Photo courtesy of National Park Service, St. George News
SPRINGDALE – One woman died and a man was treated for hypothermia during a hike through The Narrows in Zion National Park overnight Tuesday-Wednesday.
According to a news release from the National Park Service, a 33-year-old man and 31-year-old woman, a married couple, had started their permitted 16-mile trip through the Narrows from the top-down on Tuesday. The man reported they became dangerously cold overnight and experienced symptoms consistent with hypothermia.
The pair stopped about 1.50 miles from the north end of Riverside Walk, the paved trail that leads from the Temple of Sinawava to The Narrows. Early Wednesday morning, the man continued on to get help while the woman remained, the news release said.
Park rangers encountered the man on Riverside Walk where other visitors were assisting him down the trail. Other visitors farther up the Narrows administered CPR to the woman before Zion Search and Rescue Team members arrived.
Additionally, Zion National Park shuttle drivers reported that visitors had encountered an injured man and a non-responsive woman in the Narrows. Team members transported the man to the Zion Emergency Operations Center.
Farther up the Narrows, other team members found a non-responsive woman near the Virgin River. First responders administered emergency aid, but they determined she was deceased, according to the news release.
“We will continue to work with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner, but the symptoms reported to us were consistent with hypothermia,” park spokesman Jonathan Shafer told St. George News via text of the cause of the woman’s death.
Zion National Park’s response involved more than 20 search and rescue team members.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Utah Office of the Medical Examiner and the National Park Service are still investigating the cause of the woman’s death.
St. George News reporter Stephanie DeGraw contributed to this report.