Home Scandal and Gossip Grand Canyon hiker, 59, plunges 100ft to her death taking photos

Grand Canyon hiker, 59, plunges 100ft to her death taking photos

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Grand Canyon hiker, 59 falls to her death taking photos
Pictured, Maria A. Salgado Lopez, Scottsdale, Arizona woman. Grand Canyon hiker, 59 falls to her death taking photos
Grand Canyon hiker, 59 falls to her death taking photos
Pictured, Maria A. Salgado Lopez, Scottsdale, Arizona woman. Grand Canyon hiker, 59 falls to her death taking photos. Image via GoFundme.

Maria A. Salgado Lopez, Scottsdale, Arizona woman, Grand Canyon hiker, 59 falls 100 ft to her death taking photos along edge of Mather Point.

An Arizona woman hiking along the Grand Canyon has died after falling to her death while trying to take photos.

Maria A. Salgado Lopez, 59, of Scottsdale, plummeted around 100 feet Friday from the edge of Mather Point, according to the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center.

She had been hiking off-trail and taking snapshots with family when she accidentally stepped off the point’s edge, officials said.

The National Park Service and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office have launched an investigation into her death.

The death was the second at the park in recent weeks.

The latest casualty of unforeseen accidents

Read a GoFundme fundraiser organized for Andrea Salgado organized by Miguel Salgado: ‘Family & Friends it is with a heavy heart that I have to say that on July 3rd, 2020 our beloved Mom, Sister, Friend, Aunt has passed away due to an unforeseen accident. She is survived by her husband, 2 sons and daughter. This go fund me account has been created with the objective to assist this family with funeral costs. Anything you can contribute will be greatly appreciated. Thanks and God Bless.’ 

As of Sunday afternoon, over $15K of a $5K goal had been raised.

On June 26, Catherine Houe, 49, of Daly City near San Francisco, died after suffering heat-related symptoms on a 114-degree day.

The Grand Canyon had 17 fatalities in 2018, and at least four people died in the park area in 2019.

The first death last year was not the result of a fall, according to Vanessa Ceja-Cervantes, a spokeswoman for the Grand Canyon National Park.

She said the victim was a foreign national and that the body was found on March 26 in a forested area south of the South Rim Village area of the park.

On April 23, Cynthia Ackley, 69, of Peoria, Arizona fell near Pipe Creek Vista.

12 fatalities in the park per year

Two weeks previously, a 67-year-old man fell 400 feet over the rim east of Yavapai Geology Museum.

And in March a 50-year-old man from Hong Kong visiting the Hualapai reservation outside the park fell while trying to take pictures.

‘On average, there about 12 fatalities in the park per year, but a small percentage of those are from fatal falls,’ said Ceja-Cervantes at the time.

‘The causes of those deaths range from heat, to drowning, to medical issues and more.

‘High elevation plays a role in some of the fatalities.’ 

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the U.S., drawing nearly 6.4 million visitors in 2018.

Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai reservation gets about 1 million visitors annually.

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