Utah hiker found dead as record temperatures rock American West » Explorersweb

According to the National Park Service (NPS), a father and daughter died due to heat while hiking in Canyonlands National Park late last week.

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as Albino Herrera Espinoza and his daughter Beatriz Herrera.

“San Juan County Emergency Operations received a distress text message from an individual in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. The 23-year-old woman and her 52-year-old father, both of Green Bay, Wisconsin, had been hiking on the Syncline Trail, became lost and ran out of water,” the NPS said in a statement.

National Wildlife Service rangers and Bureau of Land Management Moab District rescue crews responded to the text message, but by the time officers found Espinoza and Herrera, they were dead.

Park officials reported that the air temperature was over 100°F when the two texted for help.

A massive heat dome has been hovering over North America for several weeks, breaking heat records in several western U.S. states. This weather pattern is expected to continue.

Since the beginning of summer, there have been at least 30 confirmed heat-related deaths in the western United States.