Over The Edge: Death in Grand Canyon, Revised and Expanded Third Edition

Two months ago, my wife, 13/10 year-old daughters and I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time and found it to be the most exquisite and breathtaking natural sight we’ve ever seen (believe me, pictures cannot come close to seeing it with your own eyes). Having made such an impact, I found myself immediately searching for something interesting to enhance and remember my Canyon experience; all my searching paths seemed to lead to the same conclusion: OVER THE EDGE: DEATH IN THE GRAND CANYON. I found this book exceeding my expectations of simply being interesting (and morbid?); in actuality, it was intriguing, informative, fascinating, memorable … and not so morbid.Taking the Bright Angel Trail from the Rim to the bottom (Indian Garden) and back up proved to be challenging, rewarding and memorable. The trip down is both alluring and easy. Only when you start making your way back up the trail do you realize the Canyon has lured you into its trap and all the subtle/not-so-subtle warnings you ignored on the easy trek down suddenly turn into blaring alarms. Sheer drop-offs, plague-carrying squirrels, rattlesnakes, deadly desert heat and no water are just some of the potential dangers we either sensed or saw on our own trek. OVER THE EDGE documents the myriad of ways people have died in the Grand Canyon and made me glad I walked Bright Angel before I read the book … it certainly made me aware of dangers I’d never considered before we blindly trekked to the Canyon bottom!What is great about OVER THE EDGE is that it is simply a wonderfully compiled wealth of information that is intended to educate and generate awareness … even scare some common-sense into those who tend to act before thinking. At almost 600 pages, there is obviously plenty of death covered and the book is graciously divided into chapters that lump the deaths into types (falls of the Rim, dehydration, drowning, suicide and even murder). And even though the book is all about dying, at no point did I find it morbid or unnecessary. In fact, this book only enhanced my understanding and appreciation of the Grand Canyon and its rich history. History serves to warn the future not to make mistakes of the past and OVER THE EDGE delivers that history and serves as a cautionary tale … don’t make the mistakes others made that cost them their lives.While all known Canyon-related deaths (up to the publishing date) are tallied and summarized in a table at the end of each chapter, only select stories are detailed in the chapters themselves and there are plenty. All the death stories are presented in a clear an interesting manner, with specifics that indicate multiple sources were involved in illustrating the full picture (witnesses, survivors, park personnel and law enforcement). It’s hard not read and think how utterly stupid some people are (like hanging off the Rim for a photo op … only to lose grip and fall into the depths of the Canyon) or how one could unwittingly find themselves in a world of hurt (not bringing enough water). Regardless, the stories are presented in a way that makes you cringe, but more importantly, they make you think. While I’m not a fan of heights, I found myself more creeped-out walking around the guard-railed Rim than trekking down the steep switchbacks inside the Rim. I thought we had more than enough water, only to find out we needed to fill our two 2-liter Camelbaks three times to sufficiently hydrate ourselves for the entire trek. OVER THE EDGE dedicates one of its largest chapters in recapping situations where people didn’t bring enough water, dress appropriately, wandered off the park-maintained trails, underestimated the effects of 100+ degree desert heat or simply overestimated their physical/mental capabilities to meet the demands of a Canyon hike … all cautionary tales designed to educate the reader.While some of the accounts are sad to read, some are quite fascinating. Whether it be the chapters dedicated to murder, the deadly Colorado River, plane crashes or suicide, the authors present stories in a way that make it hard to put the book down. We see the historical nature of many events covered in the book and even some of the more current instances seem historic. I found the book to be a surprisingly quick read that never became dull or horrifying in any way. In fact, I feel the authors took special care in presenting the demise of individuals in deftly tactful manner that in no way comes across as “entertaining” … you are made to feel that the deaths covered serve a greater purpose. I definitely considered this more of a history book than anything else.I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this book. As I said earlier, I wondered if I would have gone into the Canyon if I’d read OVER THE EDGE beforehand … yes, definitely … but I would have been much better prepared! I now know why this book is said to be a best-seller at the stores around the Grand Canyon. The history of the Canyon as a National Park is told through the lives of those who never left it. I think Ghiglieri and Myers wisely saw telling their stories as a means to both educate and memorialize. I would consider this book an essential read for anyone wanting to visit the Grand Canyon or as a way or making a past trip more memorable.

Great read of your planning a hike through the canyon or just a history buff! A lot bigger than I thought so it took a while to get through but it was recommended to me so I am confident in passing that recommendation on.

Recieved quickly and this used book was in great condition. Great price, great product, great shipping time.

I bought this book to learn more about the Grand Canyon before a one day Rim-to-Rim hike on October 5, 2024 with my friend. What I like most is that the book seeks to educate and prevent disaster by summarizing these stories into data driven advice...for example, most of the "falls" are from young men hiking alone (more likely to take shortcuts) and flash floods in a slot canyon are most likely to happen in summer during the afternoon/evening hours. But the stories that were most impactful to me were about hydration and how the body simply can't adapt and overcome heat and dehydration no matter how fit you are (Margaret Bradley's story stuck with me, because I also ran the Boston Marathon).As we got closer to October 5th the weather in the canyon approached July levels (Phantom Ranch was predicted to be 105 degrees the day of our hike). I was reluctant to postpone or cancel at the last minute given all the time we put into training and planning, and I felt that we were educated and well prepared for the challenge. This is where the illusion of social media makes it seem possible. Because then I thought about the stories in this book and I had to be honest with myself that hiking the challenging R2R in one day during record/unseasonal heat was extremely dangerous - and heat related deaths were very clearly presented through many examples in this book. I made the decision to postpone R2R to May 2025. I am confident this was the right decision, and I have to thank the authors for the education through these stories to make a good decision and avoid a potentially fatal mistake.

Interesting stories how humans ,mostly accidentally , kill themselves.