Canyon hike turns tragic

Tag : climbing boots
A Herriman teen who died in a fall while hiking in Big CottonwoodCanyon was remembered Monday as an artistic, athletic animal loverwho "touched a lot of people's hearts"
"She never judged. She was just always the supportive person in allof her groups - her friends, her family," Jess Schuck said of his19-year-old sister, Christina Traylor.
The teen was hiking Sunday with friends near Moss Ledge when partof the group split off to go climbing, said Salt Lake CountySheriff's Lt. Jason Johnson.
The hikers believed Traylor had gone with the climbers to takephotographs from an area below where they were climbing, Johnsonsaid. When they could not find her, they thought she may havereturned to the trailhead alone, Johnson said. After discoveringshe was not at the base, they searched for about two hours andcalled authorities at about 9 p.m. Rescuers, who could not find herin the dark, also explored the possibility she had hiked out aloneand found her own transportation off the mountain, Johnson said.
However, search teams found her body Monday morning; search teamleader Keith Sauter said Traylor fell 100 feet from a cliff in anarea about a mile from the trail entrance. Sauter described thearea as advanced climbing terrain, where mountaineering equipmentis required to negotiate the loose rock. Traylor was found withhiking boots and her camera.
"She was