Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The body of a third hiker who was swept away in flash flooding that hit the Grand Canyon last month has been found, his family said Thursday. Tim Smith, 53, was one of several people overwhelmed by a monsoonal downpour that lashed the northern side of the tourist destination, sending torrents of water, rock and debris down a popular hiking trail.
“Tim was found two days ago by the Rangers at Grand Canyon National Park,” his wife, Carrie Smith, posted on Facebook. “Not in the way we had hoped, but we know that he was doing something he loved.” Authorities rescued more than 80 people after the flash flood, which washed out campgrounds in Bright Angel Canyon, along with the historic Phantom Ranch. Over a dozen people were initially thought to be missing.
Most were subsequently located, but the bodies of two other men — Smith’s hiking companions John Guisti and Brent Rosenkranz — were recovered shortly after the dramatic flood. The flooding badly damaged the Transcanyon Waterline, a key pipeline into Grand Canyon National Park, leading to water restrictions and the closure of some accommodation.
Flash floods are common in Northern Arizona because the arid, sparsely vegetated environments there have little capacity to absorb rain, the park’s website said, urging visitors to be especially cautious from July to mid-September. The Grand Canyon — considered one of the greatest wonders of the natural world — is the result of the Colorado River eating away at layers of red sandstone and other rock for millions of years, leaving a chasm up to 18 miles (29 kilometers) wide and more than a mile deep.
© 2024 AFP
