SALT LAKE CITY — Seven hikers in safety helmets, wetsuits and climbing harnesses smiled for a group photo before heading into the mouth of a narrow desert canyon in southern Utah’s Zion National Park.
The men and women from California and Nevada posed with their arms around each other before trying to climb and swim through the popular sandstone gorge. Days later, rescuers searching for their bodies found the camera, revealing the final image of the group before they died.
Within hours of entering Keyhole Canyon, dark skies unleashed fierce rains that sent water surging through the chasm, sweeping the group to their deaths Monday.
Park officials said some in the group were new to canyoneering and had completed a beginner’s course before the excursion. Others in the group were passionate about the sport, family members said Friday.