Deep in the Grand Canyon, the rain left them nowhere to go: Hikers thought they’d prepared for the reality of a flash flood, but they never imagined that they’d be trapped in the deepest, narrowest part of the canyon. (Brianna Sacks, N. Kirkpatrick and Dylan Moriarty, September 2, 2026, Washington Post)
Buscher, a 40-year-old preschool teacher from Sherwood, Oregon, was on a long-planned trip at the iconic national park with her younger sister and their friend, when a flash flood swept through, killing at least two people. They were among dozens who were rescued throughout the weekend, as walls of water and debris rushed through canyons and down steep terrain.
Buscher, who loves the outdoors and camps frequently, hadn’t done a big adventure since having kids. But game for anything, and wanting to spend time with her younger sister, she agreed to take on the Grand Canyon’s Rim to Rim, a strenuous 24-mile excursion that usually starts on the park’s North Rim. The route drops 6,000 feet over 14.3 miles to the Colorado River and heart of the canyon, then snakes back up the Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim, a nearly 10-mile climb with 4,500 feet of elevation gain.
The Rim to Rim path, part of the Kaibab trail, sits in the center of the Grand Canyon, and was only recently re-opened after a year of repairs after a large wildfire had burned the trailhead.
But about halfway in, a torrent of water rushed toward them, coming up over the trail that was supposed to lead them away from it. The sisters’ friend had disappeared around the corner; the last thing they heard her yell was “You need to hold on to something!”
They thought they’d prepared for the reality of a flash flood, but they never imagined that they’d be trapped in the deepest, narrowest part of the canyon, enclosed in what the National Park Service calls “one of the most notorious sections.”