This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 62-year-old hiker was found dead Wednesday after apparently becoming disoriented late Tuesday in a Kane County slot canyon.
On Tuesday evening, a Garfield County sheriff's deputy responded to a report of a lost man in Spooky Gulch, a popular slot canyon east of Hole in the Rock Road in Kane County, a Kane County Sheriff's Office news release said.
The deputy met with the man's wife, who said the couple had been hiking in the canyon with their two children when they became disoriented on their way back to the trailhead and made several wrong turns. The children became ill from the heat, the woman said, so the family took shelter under trees.
The man, identified as Alabama resident Lane Friedman, hiked up a nearby hill to try to find the correct route. The wife never saw Friedman again, she told the deputy.
She and the children started hiking again and eventually made it back to the trailhead, where she borrowed a phone from other hikers to call for help.
Searchers were unable to safely start a ground search Tuesday evening due to the darkness, officials said.
On Wednesday, a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter located Friedman's body about 1 p.m., officials said. His body was transported to Escalante, where a medical examiner continued an investigation into the cause of death, the release said.
Officials reminded hikers to carry lots of water and emergency supplies in case of similar situations, and also encouraged the use of a GPS device.
Twitter: @lramseth