Woman dies during hike at Zion National Park, husband injured

A hiker is dead, and her husband is recovering after being injured during a 16-mile overnight hike at Zion National Park in Utah.

Zion National Park shuttle drivers reported that visitors found an injured man and a non-responsive woman in the Narrows on Wednesday morning, according to a news release.

Zion rescue team members found the man on Riverside Walk. He was taken to the Zion Emergency Operations Center. Farther up the Narrows, rescuers found a non-responsive woman near the Virgin River. First responders administered emergency aid, but they determined that she was dead.

The National Park Service had not released the names of the man or woman as of Friday afternoon. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Utah medical examiner’s office and the National Park Service were still investigating the cause of the woman’s death, park service spokesman Jonathan Shafer wrote in a message.

The 33-year-old man and 31-year-old woman, a married couple, had started their permitted 16-mile trip through the Narrows from the top-down on Tuesday. The man told rescuers that they became dangerously cold overnight and experienced symptoms consistent with hypothermia.

The man said they stopped about a mile and a half from the north end of Riverside Walk, a paved trail that leads from the Temple of Sinawava to the Narrows. Early Wednesday, the man went to get help while the woman remained. Park rangers encountered the man on Riverside Walk, where other visitors were assisting him down the trail. Other visitors administered CPR to the woman before rescue members arrived.

Wednesday’s low temperature was 31 degrees in the area where the couple were hiking, according to the National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City.

The park’s response involved more than 20 search and rescue team members.

Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Marv_in_Vegas on Twitter.