About 5 million people walk up to the Grand Canyon every year. Between 10 and 17 of them don’t walk back out. The exact figure depends on who you ask. Park spokespeople have put it at 10 to 15 a year. Outlets working from Park Service mortality data land closer to an average of 17. 2023 came in at 11. By September of 2024 the park had already reached 16, one of its deadliest stretches in years. On top of that, more than 250 people get rescued out of the canyon annually. The causes aren’t what most people assume. Falls get the attention, but medical and cardiac events lead, followed by falls, heat and drowning. This June was brutal. On June 3 an 18 year old was found about 30 feet off the Bright Angel Trail below Havasupai Gardens after experiencing heat-related symptoms. He’d set out to hike from the South Rim to the Colorado River and back in one day. On June 12 a man in his 70s was found on the South Kaibab. On June 16 a 67 year old man and a 68 year old woman were found on t...