After receiving the report of an unresponsive hiker, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center dispatched search and rescue personnel. They reached the hiker at around 3:30 p.m. and pronounced him deceased.
The hiker, identified only as a 56-year-old man from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, had set out for a day hike to the Colorado River and back when the incident occurred, according to officials.
The 56-year-old hiker from Wisconsin died while hiking the Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon on Friday. (U.S. National Park Service)
No cause of death was immediately released.
NPS and the Coconino County Medical Examiner are investigating the hiker’s death.
The 56-year-old man was on a day hike to the Colorado River, officials said. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The death was the first of two to occur at a U.S. national park last week.
A second 56-year-old hiker died Saturday at Big Bend National Park in Texas after experiencing chest pains around 1:15 p.m. while trekking across the Pinnacles Trail with a scout troop, park officials said.
A second hiker died Saturday on the Pinnacles Trail at Big Bend National Park in Texas. (U.S. National Park Service / CA Hoyt)
Friends hiking with the man performed CPR with the help of bystanders until park rangers arrived with an automated external defibrillator. The attempts to revive the man were unsuccessful.
No additional information in either case was immediately provided.