Second hiker in three weeks dies at Big Bend National Park in Texas

A woman collapsed and died while hiking one of the trails at Big Bend National Park in Texas on Monday, the National Park Service announced this week. The death marked the second hiker fatality at the park in three weeks, according to the agency. 

Park rangers and a U.S. Border Patrol agent found the 64-year-old woman unresponsive at around 3:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, officials said. By the time they reached her, about 45 minutes had passed since the park's communications center received an initial call reporting the woman's collapse and requesting emergency assistance, the NPS said. The team of responders "immediately began CPR," while a Border Patrol helicopter arrived to transport the woman from the park to a hospital.

"Unfortunately, all attempts to revive the hiker were unsuccessful," the NPS wrote in a news release announcing the hiker's death.

The agency did not share a definitive cause of death for the woman. However, it did note in the release that Hot Springs Canyon Trail, where she collapsed, stretches for three miles across rugged desert terrain and rocky cliffs over the Rio Grande. Without shade or water, it can be dangerous to attempt to hike the trail in afternoon heat, the NPS said.

Located in the southwestern corner of Texas near the state's border with Mexico, Big Bend National Park is a protected section of the sprawling Chihuahuan Desert, and the weather there is known for extreme desert conditions. Temperatures can rise dramatically — as much as 10 degrees — in low-lying areas of the park like those surrounding the river, according to the NPS. 

Although the agency explicitly advises visitors to exercise heat safety precautions and avoid outdoor activities during midday hours in the summer months, it does not share the same guidelines for tourists arriving in fall, winter or spring, when conditions are usually a bit milder. But the region is experiencing a heat wave this week, with "unseasonable warmth" recorded across southwestern Texas, according to the National Weather Service. On Monday, the NWS reported a high temperature of 97 degrees in Rio Grande Village, about 20 miles east of Big Bend.

"Big Bend National Park staff and our partners are saddened by this loss," said Rick Gupman, the acting deputy superintendent at the park, in a statement responding to the woman's death at Hot Springs Canyon Trail. "While we can't conclude that weather was a factor in this incident, March reminds us that the beauty of Spring often brings dangerously hot temperatures to Big Bend. Our entire Big Bend family extends our deep condolences to the hiker's family and friends."

This is the second death reported at Big Bend National Park in less than three weeks. On Feb. 18, a 56-year-old man died after reportedly experiencing chest pains while hiking along the park's Pinnacles Trail. The hiker's friends as well as park rangers attempted to revive the man using CPR and a defibrillator, but they were unable to do so.

CBS News contacted Big Bend National Park for a comment but did not receive an immediate response.

In:
• National Park Service
• Texas

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