Body of Hiker Found in Scorching Death Valley

The dangerous heat of Death Valley National Park appears to have claimed another life. A police helicopter located the body of a 68-year-old hiker from Washington state who set off in temperatures of nearly 120 degrees, reports the Fresno Bee. The family of Douglas Branham says he planned to make a 12-mile trek, leaving on either Sunday or Monday when the temperature reached at least 118 degrees. When Branham failed to show up for a flight home to Tukwila on Tuesday, authorities began the search. The cause of death is still under investigation. It was so scorching the day his body was found that the helicopter from California's Inyo County Sheriff's Office had to unload equipment in order to get enough lift in the hot air, per the AP. (More Death Valley National Park stories.)