Washington doctor Dennis Smith dies during Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike at age 74

The National Park Service recently identified a hiker who died in the Grand Canyon last week as a beloved 74-year-old Washington state doctor.Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center staff received a report on May 15 of an unresponsive hiker on the North Kaibab Trail, about half a mile below the North Kaibab Trailhead.Dr.Dennis Smith, of Olympia, Washington, was attempting a rim-to-rim hike from the South Rim to the North Rim when authorities and friends said he collapsed on the trail.Though there is limited cell phone service in the canyon, the incident happened close enough to the top that they were able to call for a park service helicopter.Medics restarted his heart, but it later stopped again, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.His cause of death is under investigation by the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office, according to the park service.Fellow doctor, Tom Helpenstell, who worked with Smith for more than 30 years, told Fox News Digital the pair ran across the canyon when it was hotter, and he believes it was a “freak” accident.“I think it was 100 degrees or close to it, but he’s really good about hydrating,” Helpenstell said.

“He’s always drinking fluids.… He’s way too smart to be pushing beyond his limits.

I think this was just a freak thing.”After doing a short stint in the Navy, Smith, a former family practice doctor, became an orthopedic surgeon.He then started his own practice, Olympia Orthopaedic Associates, where he met Helpenstell in 1994.“We worked together in the same office and assisted each other every Tuesday in surgeries for 30 years,” Helpenstell said.“He and I have run across the Grand Canyon three times, doing Ultra Trail-type running.

Probably two years ago, he decided not to do running [anymore], so he was hiking with a group out of Tucson, Arizona, where he spends the winters.”Before deciding not to keep running, the pair ran up Mount Whitney together, completed full Iron Man competitio...