Rocky Mountain National Park sees 3rd death in just over 2 weeks
Update: July 20: The Grand County coroner identified the man found unresponsive on a Rocky Mountain National Park trail as Robert Landry of Carencro, Louisiana. An autopsy indicated cause of death consistent with an acute coronary event as well as high altitude pulmonary edema.
Original story
A Rocky Mountain National Park visitor found unresponsive on a trail has died, according a park news release.
The 51-year-old man from Carencro, Louisiana, was found Monday afternoon a little more than a mile from the Mount Ida Trailhead by park visitors hiking in the area. They notified park rangers via a personal locator beacon and began CPR on the man.
Park rangers responded, continued CPR and initiated advanced medical care, but the man was later pronounced deceased.
Park staff carried the man's body out to the trailhead where it was transported to the Grand County Coroner’s Office. The coroner will release the man's name after next of kin has been notified, as well as his cause of death.
The death is under investigation.
Mount Ida is located about 13 miles west of Estes Park near the Continental Divide in the middle of the national park. The 9.6-mile roundtrip hike is rated as strenuous, starting at an elevation of 10,759 feet and gaining 2,465 feet to the summit.
The death marked the third fatality in the park in the past 16 days.
Here is previous reporting on the other two deaths:
July 2: A 24-year-old man from Las Vegas, Nevada, died after falling into the water at West Creek Falls.
July 9: A 26-year-old free solo climber from Boulder fell to her death while climbing Ypsilon Mountain's Four Aces of Blitzen Ridge.
It's been a busy search-and-rescue summer in Rocky Mountain National Park already
On July 11, two climbers got stuck on 14,259-foot Longs Peak but were safely rescued after spending a night on the peak.
Park officials have warned those wishing to hike to the top of the popular peak to wait until deep snow in stretches melts.
Officials said normally the Keyhole Route to the top is passable by early July but that this year it may not be passable until early August.
More: Fourteeners for beginners What are Colorado's top beginner fourteeners? The state's highest peak is among them
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Rocky Mountain National Park sees 3rd death in just over 2 weeks
