I have read and searched about this topic. I have seen a recollection of the David Phillips tragedy and I have to disagree with an earlier post. David Phillips had done the hike before and so did one of the Scout Leaders. The trip mentioned above went wrong when an unexpected heatwave hit. They had enough water for a regular trip. However, the reason David died was because he was a nice kid who thought he was preconditioned for it and so when his friends were thirsty and a bit low, he gave them his water. One scout leader couldn't make it past the 2nd day, another gave up on the 3rd day, and later on, the oldest and most experienced one finally ran out of gas, told the scouts to stay in the shade with him and wait, gave David Phillips and his friends Jordan and Mark the go ahead to get water at the river which was only about a half day away, and then sent the other scouts after them when he got worried. The kids weren't able to find the path he told them about and instead climbed down a sheer cliff of 200 feet. David collapsed within 100 yards of the Colorado River, so his friends ran to the river and filled their water bottles. Jordan ran first and they tried to have him drink, but David couldn't swallow, so they splashed water on him to cool his body down. Mark then ran and just as he was filling up the water bottles, he saw a kayak team coming down the river. He signaled them, they came ashore, and to their luck three medical professionals and a guide were apart of the team. Unfortunately, the emergency doctor, technician, and surgeon arrived to help David too late. He died during the night just before dawn when the whole scout troop was rescued.
