This was Ghiglieri’s first stab at writing about death in national parks (followed up by the more interesting Yosemite book). Although Grand Canyon deaths are a little less bizarre than some of the more interesting Yosemite deaths (only two people have ever died base jumping in the Grand Canyon, after all!), I know that the writers are more capable than what I read here, and so I don’t think they had to put me to sleep quite as much as they did.

The Yosemite book was also much clearer in its mission of analyzing the deaths and describing how to avoid those pitfalls. Granted, they’re usually obvious, e.g. don’t wade in the water above a waterfall, but perhaps because the Grand Canyon rationales are even more so (e.g. rails are there for a reason; stay on trails), it seemed to be more about the deaths and less about prevention. I guess in some odd way I felt more like a voyeur in this book, and less like someone learning about outdoor safety.

It’s still an interesting read, and still a formidable answer to the question we all seem to wonder when we go to the Canyon: how many people have died here?