SALT LAKE CITY — Seven avid hikers in safety helmets, wetsuits and climbing harnesses smiled for a group photo before heading into the mouth of a narrow canyon in southern Utah’s Zion National Park.
The 50-something men and women from California and Nevada posed with their arms around one another before trying to climb and swim through the popular sandstone gorge. Days later, rescuers searching for their bodies found a camera that revealed the final image of the group before they died.
Within hours of their entering Keyhole Canyon, dark skies unleashed fierce rains that sent water surging through the chasm, sweeping the seven to their deaths Monday.
Their bodies were found throughout the week, the last coming Thursday. It’s the same day authorities recovered a 33-year-old man killed by flash flooding near the Utah-Arizona border, raising the death toll to 20 from the violent rainstorm.
At least 12 others, including nine children, died in a nearby polygamous town when two cars were swept away. A 6-year-old boy was still missing.
Some of the seven hikers took a canyoneering skills course just before the excursion, park officials said. Others in the group were passionate about the sport and knew one another through a hiking club in Valencia, Calif., loved ones said Friday.
The photo was taken on a “tragic last adventure” for the group, who regularly hiked and backpacked, the children of Linda and Steve Arthur said in a statement.
The couple, from Camarillo, Calif., were outdoor enthusiasts. Steve Arthur, 58, was a sergeant and 21-year veteran of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Capt. John Reilly said.
Mark MacKenzie, 56, of Valencia, Calif., was an avid hiker who looked out for others, particularly in the outdoors, according to his mother, Deanna MacKenzie Sisung.
Don Teichner, 55, of Mesquite, Nev., met members of the group through a California hiking club. The father and grandfather moved out of the state earlier this year and wasan executive at Almore Dye House, his family’s Los Angeles-based garment-dyeing company, according to his cousin and business partner, Jeff Teichner.
Gary Favela, 51, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was adventurous and outgoing with a love for canyoneering, while Muku Reynolds, 59, of Chino, Calif., was a grandmother and a passionate hiker, their families said in statements released Friday by park officials.
Robin Brum, 53, a wife and mother from Camarillo, Calif., was a selfless person who cared for those around her, her family said.
Park officials say they warned the group of the risks when they got their permit Monday, telling them that there was a 40 percent chance of rain and some canyons would flood.
Park policy prevents rangers from assessing visitors’ skill level or stopping them from entering canyons.
