What to know about hiking in the deadly heat
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - With triple digit heat expected to stick around North Texas all week, it's important to remember these high temperatures aren't just dangerous -- they can be deadly.
Over the weekend, two teen boys died within the span of less than a week, both after hiking on two popular trails at different parks in different parts of the state.
The first incident happened on June 20 at Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Amarillo. A group of three hikers called for help at around 1:45 p.m. Help soon arrived, but a 17-year-old boy died.
The Lighthouse Trail, where the rescue occurred, is a popular trail at the state park, but there is no shade. Temperatures on Tuesday hit 103 degrees in the canyon.
Just three days later, a similar incident played out at Big Bend National Park in the Chihuahuan Desert. A man and his two stepsons were hiking on the Marufo Vega Trail in 119-degree heat, when one of them, a 14-year-old boy, got sick and passed out.
This happened at around 6:00 p.m. When Park Rangers and agents from the U.S. Border Patrol found the teen about an hour and a half later, he had died. The stepfather was killed in a car crash, trying to get help for the boy.
These two stories drive home the danger of this heat. CBS News Texas spoke with Tom VandenBerg, a Park Ranger at Big Bend National Park, about what hikers need to know about hitting the trails this summer.
"June is the hottest time of the year at Big Bend National Park, by far," VandenBerg said. "It is a desert. It is June. It is extremely hot. If you want to hike, that's okay, but you really need to do it early in the day."
He said hikers should try to be off the trails by 11:00 a.m., or noon at the latest:
"Do what the desert wildlife does. You don't see them walking around in the heat of the day."
VandenBerg advises those who wish to hike on trails where cell phone service may be spotty or unavailable, like the Marufo Vega Trail, to tell a friend where they will be and what time they expect to be back.
"It's very important to be pretty conservative this time of the year," he said. "Don't overestimate your ability, and never underestimate the desert."
