Health & Fitness
The Grand Canyon: A Fatal Destination?
There have been a recorded 683 deaths in Arizona's Grand Canyon. In spite of that, it's still a terrific vacation destination.
As I weigh my latest travel choices, I was reading the travel section of the Los Angeles Times and there was an article about how many deaths have been recorded in the Grand Canyon.
Yeah, that's a really good article to throw in the travel section to spur tourism, isn't it?
In spite of the grisly undertone, the article was actually pretty interesting. For instance, there have been at least 683 deaths below the rim of the Grand Canyon. If you have a trip planned there this summer, don't panic. You cut your chances of premature death in half if you don't take the tourist planes or helicopters over the Canyon. There have been 65 fatal crashes, accounting for 379 victims. So if you keep your feet on the ground, you're in pretty good shape.
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Most people die in the Canyon due to environmental reasons....like heat and dehydration. Some people just think you can stroll to the bottom or the canyon and back up again without thinking about the wter your body needs to make that rigorous hike in 100 degree plus weather. So that's a big "heads up" right there.
Two of the more unusual deaths were a prospector in 1933 who was extremely afraid of snakes and when he saw one on the trail he had a heart attack. You know, if I was deathly afraid of people in big mouse costumes or audio-animatronic pirates I'd probably stay away from Disneyland. Just seems like a "common sense" decision.
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Another death at the canyon was a suicide of a man in 2004 who jumped from a helicopter. The less commented about that, the better.
In all actuality, I don't think that I will curtail any visits to the Canyon de Grand anytime soon for fear of early demise. I take my past trips into account...I've been there about ten times and didn't suffer so much as a splinter, so I like to think common sense will keep me alive. At least, that's what I will go with for the time being.
Finding out that there have been so many deaths in a national treasure like the Grand Canyon IS a bit sobering though. This kind of information isn't widely known or distributed. It makes me wonder what they are hiding about the hidden dangers of places like The Petrified Forest and those "landmark" markers along the highway!
