#Hiker dies while exploring canyons at Zion National Park

A 26-year-old woman has died after falling in a canyon at Utah’s Zion National Park, marking the second death at the preserve in three months.

The body of the unnamed hiker was recovered Sunday evening at the park’s Mystery Canyon, according to a news release by the National Park Service.

According to visitors, the explorer had plummeted 60 to 80 feet Saturday while canyoneering, a popular outdoor pursuit that combines route-finding, rappelling, problem solving, swimming, and hiking, per the NPS website. In accordance, park officials closed down several areas of the National Park and dispatched rescue crews to the area.

Unfortunately, the initial recovery mission failed after the emergency helicopter was unable to “extricate the patient due to the steep narrow, canyon walls,” per the news release. Medics managed to reach the canyoneer before she succumbed to her injuries, which park officials said were consistent with a “high elevation fall.”

Investigations into the adventurer’s tragic death are ongoing.

The tragic accident comes exactly three months after another Zion National Park hiker named Jason Hartwell plunged to his death approximately one mile south of the aforementioned site.

In another heartbreaking incident earlier this month, a 56-year-old hiker died after falling 500 feet during a Memorial Day trek in California’s Sequoia National Park.