Hiker's GoPro Footage Captures Harrowing Moments As Deadly Flash Floods Swept Through Zion National 

CBS LA should be embarrassed by this story. First the two incidents (if you could call the Angels Landing footage an incident) have nothing to do with each other. Using the tragedy in Keyhole as part of this story is incredibly disrespectful to the seven that died. This guy is clueless. Racing down a slippery paved path to get to low ground during a possible flash flood is idiotic at best. There was nothing harrowing going on. The upper part of the Angels Landing trail won't flash and all you have to do is find a spot out of the flow and stay put. Take this DOWN!

Watching this footage is super confusing. Why is he running down hill during a potential flash flood? Why is he telling people to run down hill? Those hikers huddling against the wall seemed like they knew more than the dumb, panicky guy.

I feel like the dude who filmed this doesn't know how floods work.

This guy running down the path doesn't have a clue. Neither does the news team. The Utah locals would watch this and laugh. He is in more danger running down a wet hill.

Good Lord! The site of this video is the path to Angel's Landing and THOSE people on the path were NOT in danger of being swept away. The site where the hikers were caught by the flash flood was up in the narrows of the canyon in the Virgin River several miles away. THESE folks in THIS video were NOT in the Virgin River but rather on a CONCRETE path far above the river with PLENTY of places to avoid a flash flood. The hikers who were killed had no place to avoid the flood in the narrows where the water flow went from fifty cubic feet per second to several thousand cubic feet per second. Completely misleading.

I thought the whole footage was weird, looking through the comments makes a lot of sense now. Thanks to the people that actually know what they are talking about. Gotta hate shitty news reporting.

I actually think staying put and holding onto a tree away from the waterfalls would have been a better idea than running down a hill in the rain.

As other commenters have pointed out, the newscaster commentary is misleading. These hikers were not at risk for the same kind of exposure as the 7 hikers who died in Keyhole Canyon though the newscaster makes it sound like they were in the same place. Keyhole is an enclosed, narrow slot canyon with several places that offer no escape from a torrent of rushing water and debris from above and behind. To the contrary, the hikers in this video were on a trail on a hillside, the last leg of the hike down from Refrigerator Canyon, below Angel's Landing, by the looks of it - with a paved, well-maintained walk-way they could run down. They are not in a "gorge". There is definite danger from falling\sliding water, rocks and debris from the hill above, and they were right to get down as speedily as possible, but it really doesn't compare to what the 7 hikers who lost their lives faced. And it's "zi-un", not "zi-ON".

Ridiculous comparison between this hiker and those who died in the slot canyon. We hike up this trail in the rain just so that we can see the amazing waterfalls. No danger of flash flooding in that area. The panicked hiker who took the GoPro probably didn't know that and not faulting him, but whoever put this story together could have done a little more homework to know that the keyhole slot canyon was much a much different situation than what this hiker was facing. Apples and oranges.

That "INSTINCT" you had is called pannic lol. In front of the whole world, on RU-vid, forever. Im 32 myself, and if this generations "instinct" is to run downhill to avoid a flood... were all doomed.

This guy oughta' be in movies. He is pretending to be in danger. Being separated from his Prius.

These incidents were in completely different sections of the park. Misleading news cast.

The dude was safe where he was at. Running down the mountain was more dangerous.

Hurry everybody the mountainside is gonna flood!! Let’s get to lower ground in the creek bottom...Surprising this guy actually got other people to believe they were in danger and follow him

This is stupid. That area would never flood.

Please stop using the picture of the 7 hikers in the link for this video. This video is not taken in the same area and the picture gives the impression it is the groups go pro footage.

My gosh this is so stupid. This guy and the canyoneering group are completely unrelated. Anyone in a slot canyon could be in trouble on a day like this. This guy was in no danger as it will not flash flood there, but even if it did, you can see in the video there’s plenty of high ground. He could have just stepped off the trail. Perfect example of news media sensationalizing nothing.

when the youtube comment section is smarter than mainstream news outlet

Such a sad tragedy. Just to clarify, this video shows the storm that hit Zion; not the canyon where the hikers sadly passed away. This video looks like they were on the Angel's landing trail, not in Keyhole; where the 7 were swept away.

Why would you run *down* a mountain to escape floodwaters?

This is confusing. I'm no expert in any sense, and have only watched a few clips of flash flood, but why did he keep saying and actually doing what he's saying, "we need to GO DOWN, it's going to flood"? I'm confused. If there's a flash flood coming, why then run down to it? This is confusing.

Yea run to the bottom! Great idea.

This guy was on Angels landing. The hikers that died were in the narrows. I would have continued to climb or find a secure spot to wait it out. Following that guy would be the worst thing to do.

Wait wait wait, this dude thought that Angels Landing was going to flood?!? Is this a joke?! I just did that hike 4 days ago and he’d been safe even if Noah’s flood hit!

Congratulations on surviving your panic, dude. You are a hero to fools.

This is the biggest BS video. This guy is on Angel's Landing, it's not a slot canyon. He was in no real danger, him running down was dangerous. Those who were killed were in slot canyons. This video should be taken down.

At that point you almost need to go up.

The hikers killed were in a deep narrow canyon. But the hikers would have been fine if they had stayed put on that trail from Angels Landing. The water falls shed the water from the rain away from the other sandstone area's. There is plenty of places to get cover on that trail. They were just inexperienced day hikers caught in a rainstorm.

CBS Los Angeles, you should be fined for misleading info; or is Brian Williams the producer?

Probably the biggest danger they faced was slipping and falling while running on the paved trail. I agree with the others that this is clearly the lower part of Angel's Landing.

Camera man never dies

I live in Kentucky and when the water in the river floods--we go UP the hill. Should have holed up and waited out the rain.

go look up "Keyhole Canyon Flash Flooding Conditions" to see what the 7 hikers were dealing with. it was a completely different area and situation. this guy racing DOWN the hill, towards the river, because it's raining...is Patrick Star Nailing a 2x4 to His Own Head level dumb.

Seek LOWER ground during a flood????

This is why trust in news is so low.

I once experienced heavy rain on a mountainside too. Still feel lucky to be alive.

Totally misleading newscast, Angels landing would never flash flood like that, maybe you should consult an expert before saying something like that

This is confusing, why run DOWN the trail when the water's coming down hard and a flash flood is happening? I must have missed something.

i’ve gone on this hike before and it’s no joke, to RUN it is actually insane

If I'm running for my life I'm not stopping to pull my phone out. But leaving that other group behind is something they will never forget.

Wouldn’t you want to go up?

On the side of a mountain worried about flood waters. Ummm. Find a dry spot stay out of the rapids

Don’t run on wet rock, such a bad idea.

Stay put! Let it pass, don’t engage danger spots…

They sit in their urban media offices and spew out this BS ....anyone with ANY outdoor knowledge would have re - edited this content ...

I really dislike "news stories" that create more questions than answers. What happened to journalism in America?

Not that hard to hike with clear skies. Check your forecasts. Stop hiking when it's going to rain. Respect nature.

There's always a warning.. just look at the weather forecast, there's your warning... 30% chance of rain, you're good.. 40%, meh, plan to hike on another day..

I don’t understand why they panicked and felt they had to make it back to safety. They were safe where they were, it was only a flash flood and would have passed in an hour or two. Find a cave or shelter from the hail and enjoy the moment. Geez. Condolences to the families who lost loved ones.

Where is the threatening water? I can't see it

This video is so ignorant in so many ways.

Yeah, these guys are in literally no danger of getting hit with a flash flood. I've hiked that trail a thousand times and they're probably 200 feet above the valley. There are small waterfalls on the path but that's it. As others have said, he's in much more danger running down the wet trail.

Racing down a cliff, to avoid a flash flood...iii thought something was up. Tooo the comments section! Lol

How can there be flash floods at a point where the rain hits the highest ground.

yes..he already said it was quick, and wind got up...why repeat this..

2:02 the 6th one was my step mom

The dude who took the video was on the trail that goes to angels landing. It's quite literally paved, and as long as you're below Walter's wiggles (which he was), you have little chance of getting hurt even if it's raining. Heck, there's ZERO chance of flooding where that guy was, hence why you saw nobody else freaking out. I've hiked that slot canyon before. If there's flash flooding, there's a high probability of not making it out alive. I understand that the use of the video was to show how the storm would put the slot canyon hikers in danger. However, they gave that dude the attention, which was just wrong.

Its raining.lets run downstream.....a fool's tale....

I dont see what they are running from in the video. The hikers appear to be on high ground yelling about the area flooding? and then continuing to run downhill into the canyon.

This is the trail to Angels Landing. This is NOT AT ALL LIKE BEING IN A SLOT CANYON and THIS IS NOT KEYHOLE Canyon. BIG DIFFERANCE. Not sure why he was so scared. Start Storm chasing and learn how weather works like when do Thunderstorms start building etc. Next time get on the trail before Sun up not at 12:30 in the afternoon like the lost 7.

If there's gonna be a flood, seek higher ground, not lower ground.

They where fine. They where not in a canyon, take it from somebody who was caught in a flash flood while canyoneering.

This is the dumbest news report I've ever seen. The guy is on a super popular trail. He's running downhill in the rain. There is no flash flood threat for him at all. Maybe lightning but not flash flood.

Why not stay in place where the hikers had shelter? There was no waterfall or washed out trail where they were. I sure hope none of the victims died trying to follow the panicking fool. Essentially, if the died following this idiot, then Mr. Panic-pants is guilty of luring them to their death. What a disgusting show of ineptitude and cowardice.

Is this a joke?

He over reacted, the hiking victims were in a narrow canyon bottom! He is on a trail that gas plenty of spots to wait out the storm!

he was desperately rushing to lower ground to capture some flash flood footage

This is grosely misrepresented.

What a complete shock that this so called hiker is clueless

Well, how can you outrun floods especially when the route was circling all the way down?

the hikers were in no danger. the trail that they were on had no major drainage's were the water could gather. the 7 canyoneers that went down Keyhole Canyon in eastern Zion were in a slot.

The blind leading the blind!

Fake news--this area is not a slot canyon, and this guy is making a fool of himself pretending that he was about to die on a paved hiking trail. Embarrassing.

It's gonna flood.. 😂 You're up a mountain mate

Watching this, I realize how little time they had to make a split second decision, but there are a lot of trees on the side of the wall and I don't understand why they just didn't climb up those trees and hang on but I wasn't in the situation I find this harrowing I'm not a hiker I'm afraid of heights and I think sometimes you just have to be prepared and these guys did the best they could it seems

with floods you run up and not down to the danger, and wait till it is save

*NOT “Zy-onn!”*

Wouldn't it make sense to just go up not down? Or just pick a good spot and wait? This doesn't make sense

A flash flood from the west rim trail? Lol, no.

He needs to read the childrens book Henny Penny- the sky is falling 😅

You are supposed to climb and stay out of the flooded and or flooding low lying areas ..... this guy was the epitome of a panicked person that isnt thinking clearly and not in their wise mindset....he was in his emotional mind and could have died or led the other people that panicked to death as well. Lesson learned

Why do you go down when it's flooding?

Why the F would you go DOWN. I have been in weather like that and I always headed for the high ground, taught my kids the same. Even in the desert miles from the rain event you can hear the water coming down the wash before you see it and have time to get to safety.

You want to survive ? STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THERE...

It floods in the valleys.........what is this guy even talking about

Where is the footage?

I am from the city and even I find it funny. These hipsters pretending to be specialists running around like hysterics because it’s just... raining. Come on!

Yep, when I worked in Springdale in 2020, I got caught in a flash flood storm in the summer on The Watchman Trail. I hunkered down under an overhang while lightning flashed overhead and thunder boomed….the rain was intense. Boulders slid down the slopes and I stayed put. Tourists were trying to run down to their cars 1.5 miles away and not apply common sense. They would not listen to me when I yelled at them to join me in a safe spot. 😮

You don't go down in a flood that's where the water goes.. they were just fine on the side of that mountain 👍

none of these people should be there in the first place!

1:42 "They ran across a river" WTF?

No warning?? The fact that this happens all the time is a warning isn't it?

Landslides, flooding........difficult place to find safety!

Didnt check forecast?

This looks fake....

the guy on the far right of the keyhole 7 was a good friend of mine.

BS "there was no warning". If you track weather reports and keep your head up, you'll know it's a sketchy day and abandon some kinds of hikes. I remember hiking Lembert Dome in Yosemite which is a fairly easy hike, just one scramble-steep section at top but not terribly bad. Still, the weather could make it a killer. I remember seeing some thunder heads forming in updrafts towards the central valley and quickly getting out of there, but I still saw hikers going up even as the rain started hitting. I told them there was likely to be lightning, but they kept going. Nothing happened, but it was certainly not the time to be heading up to an exposed dome.

So...why would they need to go down to avoid a flood?

They like this and live for this

Did you notice how these canyon hikers are not carrying any oversupply of rope. If in a crisis you can snag something high up and hang on, at least you ride up and not get thrashed over rocks going with the flow. And then who was paying close attention to weather radio reports. Its too many smart climbers dying. Which means green people like me who never did any of it wouldnt stand a chance. So who would be hiking with a life jacket?