The hikers were a father and daughter lost in Canyonlands and a woman who passed out at Snow Canyon state park
Three hikers died over the weekend in suspected heat-related cases at state and national parks in Utah, including a father and daughter who got lost on a strenuous hike in Canyonlands national park in triple-digit temperatures.
The daughter, 23, and her father, 52, sent a 911 text alerting dispatchers that they were lost and had run out of water while hiking the 8.1-mile (13km) Syncline Loop, described by the National Park Service as the most challenging trail in the Island in the Sky district of the south-east Utah park.
The pair set out on Friday to navigate steep switchbacks and scramble through boulder fields with limited trail markers as the air temperature surpassed 100F (38C).
Texting 911 that you’re dying is the most Gen Z thing I’ve ever heard of.
They most likely did not have a cell signal. It’s the canyonlands, it’s 30 miles as the crow flies from the nearest town. There’s nothing but nature as far as the eye can see.
They might have used satellite texting.
People that invest $350 + subscription into hiking safety with an inReach don’t hike into the desert with less than a day’s water. They’ve got at least three maps between Garmin, GMaps or iMaps, and the map they’re actually using to navigate, and don’t get lost very often. Even the most basic inReach mini augments phone GPS for positioning and vector in the Garmin app. One has to be damned near under full tree cover or in a horrible thunderstorm for it to fail to send a text. And, they’d have instead pushed the SoS button, which is literally better than 911 outside any city, which is why it’s the gold standard until mountaineering equipment.
I’d bet $5 this group was desperate and trying everything they could think of. They didn’t have an inReach or they’d be alive.
Oh yeah? It just magically connects to… nothing then?
Pretty sure you’re thinking that you don’t need a plan to call, but you definitely need a signal.
Don’t know why you are getting downvotes, it’s like people havent heard that the iphone 14 can connect to satellites directly for emergencies
Actually, it’s faster than calling. So what you’re saying is gen-z is faster and more efficient? I’m not sure about that but I bet they appreciate support from someone so old.
Joke aside, I text 911 because it’s faster for them to handle multiple incoming texts at once. You skip the line.
Source: I briefly dated a 911 operator. Wild stories, and a surprising amount of office drama.
ThErE iS nO cLiMaTe ChAnGe
Does that count for Darwin awards? Why on earth would you go out hiking in 100+ degree weather? That’d be the same as asking me to swim a few miles into the ocean with no floaty devices during a monsoon. Just crazy.
