This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Park rangers found a hiker's body Sunday in the Virgin River Narrows of Zion National Park, a day after a fast-rising river separated him from his friend.
The 34-year-old California man, who was not immediately identified, and a friend had entered the Narrows from the Riverside Walk trail early Saturday, according to a National Park Service news release. When rain arrived about 9:30 a.m., the two decided to head back.
But during their return trip, the river rose rapidly and quickly reached flood levels. The hikers wound up on opposite sides of the swollen river and stranded on high ground, unable to talk to each other over the noise of the rushing water, according to the release.
They waited six hours for the river to recede, but by 4 p.m., it was still too high for them to hike out. One of them decided to try to leave by swimming down the raging river, while the other stayed on high ground, according to the release.
"He just wanted to get out of there and get help for his other friend," said National Park Service spokesman David Eaker, who does not recommend going into a fast-moving river like that. "The preferred option for both of them is to stay in place where they were safe at the time. … He did make it, but he was lucky."
After the hiker made it safely out of the river, he contacted a park ranger at about 6:30 p.m.
"He informed park rangers that his companion was still stranded on high ground, but was not injured or in distress," the release reads.
Park rangers went to the Narrows, but the river was running too high for them to safely go in from downstream, according to the release. The rangers decided to wait until Sunday morning for the river to recede to a safe level, the release adds.
Rescuers found the hiker's body about 2 p.m. Sunday along a bank of the Virgin River near the Riverside Walk, the release adds. He was about a quarter to a half mile from the high ground where his friend last saw him, Eaker said.
"We don't know if he entered the river, fell in, or what happened," Eaker said.
The park service is waiting to release the hiker's identity until it can notify his family.
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