Jordan Brashears Washington state hiker falls 100 feet to his death after hiking barefoot along Boynton Canyon trail near Sedona, Arizona. Social media images showed avid experienced hiker.
A 29-year-old hiker climbing barefoot has died after slipping and falling more than 100 feet to his death in an Arizona canyon, according to reports.
The body of Jordan Sean Brashears, of Seattle, Washington state, was found on Friday in Boynton Canyon near Sedona, one day after his hiking companions lost sight of him.
Two friends he was hiking with reported him missing after he went ahead of them and they lost sight of him on Thursday, October 8.
Brashears had met the two men on Wednesday and joined them the following day for a hike on the Boynton Canyon Trail, near Sedona’s Enchantment Resort. The area is known for archaeological sites and a ‘power vortex.’
The three hikers had planned to explore ancient ruins in the canyon and were exploring half a mile from the Enchantment Resort on the canyon’s east wall when tragedy struck.
Experienced hiker went ahead of two other hikers only to go out of sight
In the late afternoon, as they walked on the canyon’s eastern rim, Brashears who was hiking without shoes went ahead of the other two. When they came to the area where they expected to find him, he was not in sight.
The two friends called out his name for about an hour before calling the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office around 6.15pm, AZFamily reports.
Searchers and the Sheriff’s Office forest patrol deputy searched for him for hours into the evening but couldn’t locate him.
Another search resumed on October 9 with teams searching by helicopter, with a drone and on the ground.
One of Brashears’ companions found a water jug belonging to the missing hiker.
A search team found a pair of shoes, a cell phone and Brashears’ body around 9am.
Deputies believe Brasheared hiked around the corner from the last place he was seen and tried to climb another ledge or two before he fell from the edge.
Tributes pour in
Investigators don’t believe he intended to fall or that foul play was involved.
A medical examiner will determine the cause of death Mercury News reports.
Not immediately clear is why the experienced hiker chose to go hiking barefoot?
Brashears’ Instagram account, on which he describes himself as ‘Explorasaurus Rex,’ includes photos from his travels this month in California and Arizona. The most recent, from Wednesday, shows him on a ledge of Sedona’s Cathedral Rock.
According to his social media he was an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast.
Tributes poured in for Brashear on Facebook, with friends remembering him as a ‘beautiful, magnetic soul’ who loved music, the outdoors, and meditation.’
‘Always ethereal, mystical, and other worldly. Your grateful heart, a generous miracle magnet. You never belonged to just this dimension….you were the person that showed me that choosing to manifest good for yourself is a type of meditation, a deeply spiritual practice. I wish so much losing you wasn’t our reality right now,’ one friend wrote.
‘See you in the next dimension you beautifully magnetic soul,’ another friend wrote.
‘He was full of joy, love and hope last time I saw him. And that’s how i will always remember him. Human life is short and fragile …. Jordan tried to live his life to the fullest,’ one Facebook tribute said.