An Australian hiker was found dead Wednesday in Wyoming after a Will Standish Wyoming hike on the Continental Divide Trail between Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Teton County Search & Rescue said the 28-year-old was located on the west slope of the Tetons near the Wigwams after several days without further contact.
Teton County Search & Rescue search
The hiker last communicated on July 23. After his family reported him missing, Teton County Search & Rescue began searching on Monday and found his body Wednesday evening. The trail where he was hiking runs 3,100 miles and crosses Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Searchers reached his last known location by helicopter. They spotted a bright orange backpack before finding his body below the ridge south of North Wigwam Peak, on a steep, high-altitude ridgeline separating Grand Teton National Park and the Jedediah Smith Wilderness.
Richard Fletcher and North America
Teton County Search & Rescue said available evidence suggests he fell from that ridgeline. The agency said, "Teton County SAR sends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, and wishes to express its gratitude to the partnering federal agencies who assisted in the investigation".
The Wyoming death came during a week that GearJunkie said included at least six hiking fatalities across North America. On Sunday, 15-year-old Levi Strobel died from a lightning strike while hiking Colorado's Mount Blue Sky. On Saturday, Richard Fletcher, 61, was later found dead on Phoenix's South Mountain after he left home early that morning to hike.
Also on Saturday, a hiker suffered a medical emergency on the Welch-Dickey trail in Waterville Valley and was later pronounced dead. On Tuesday, a woman in her 20s died after falling from a mountain near Marvel Peak in Banff National Park, and a 65-year-old Calgary man died after falling from Mount Temple in Banff.
The hike ended where the search began: on a steep ridge above the Tetons. The open question is the same one search teams left unanswered, because the available evidence points to a fall but not the cause of it.
