Man Details How He and Friend Survived 750-Mile Trek Through Grand Canyon in New Book

A 69-year-old hiker died in the Grand Canyon after being overcome in the heat .

Scott Sims' niece, Jessica, was hiking with him.

"There are no words for the emotions we are feeling right now," Jessica wrote to Facebook. "The most beautiful places are unforgiving. Be prepared. Don't underestimate nature. Hike smart."

Two friends, writer Kevin Fedarko and photographer Pete McBride, are experienced hikers who have traveled through the Grand Canyon. They walked a 750-mile trek that took 14 months.

"It is in fact the most dangerous national park that we have in the United States," Fedarko tells Inside Edition.

"I would say on day three through day six, I was concerned that I would not survive. I was having severe doubts," McBride says.

The friends say they faced near disaster many times.

"We came up against a whole host of challenges, extreme heat, ledges and cliffs that dropped 300, 400, 500 feet," Fedarko says. "You're moving through an extreme wilderness on foot."

McBride says the long hike was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

"I made some mistakes, carrying too much weight, too much of my camera equipment," he says. "We learned a lot of very hard lessons."

Fedarko's book about their exploits, "A Walk in the Park," is now a bestseller.

"It inflicted misery and suffering on us and it also gave us some of the most extraordinary moments that we've ever experienced," Fedarko says.

Read the prologue from "A Walk in the Park" here .

Excerpted from A WALK IN THE PARK by Kevin Fedarko. Copyright (c) 2024 by Kevin Fedarko. Reprinted by permission of Scribner, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, LLC.

Related Stories