A 10-year-old Ohio boy died while hiking in the Grand Canyon, the third hiker to die in the canyon this summer, authorities said Wednesday.
A group of hikers found Phillip Grim of Youngstown, Ohio, unconscious on a trail along the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon near Phantom Ranch Tuesday afternoon, said Mallory Smith, a park spokeswoman.Phillip was flown by helicopter to the South Rim, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy Wednesday did not determine the exact cause of death, but the medical examiner ruled out a fall, said Coconino County sheriff's detective Gil Moreno.
Heat-related illness was a suspect. It was 10 degrees hotter than usual at the bottom of the canyon on Tuesday, Smith said. Temperatures at Phantom Ranch were near 116 degrees.
"It's always hot in the summer in the canyon. When the temperatures get up at Phantom Ranch, those are the times when they have the serious problems," she said.
On June 6, a 15-year-old Boy Scout from Bountiful, Utah, died when he ran out of water in an area designated for very experienced hikers only.
On July 1, a 57-year-old Pennsylvania woman died while hiking with her husband on Hermit Trail. They had planned to hike and camp for four days in the canyon.
This is the first year there have been heat-related deaths in the canyon since 1991, Smith said.
Hikers often fail to heed warnings about the difficulty of the hike, she said.
"Most people underestimate the difficulty of the climb and the harshness of the conditions and the exposure. There's not a lot of places to hide from the heat," she said.
Children run an even greater risk of suffering from heat-related illnesses, Smith said.
"Kids run around and do their thing. Sometimes they're not as aware as adults of what their body is doing. They don't stop and think, `Oh, I should probably drink more water,' " she said.