Woman dies while hiking on Colorado trail, prompting heat warning from officials

A woman died while hiking in western Colorado on Monday as a heat dome blanketed pockets of the American West and drove up temperatures in a number of states. Marsha Cook, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was pronounced dead after collapsing around the two-mile mark of a hiking trail at Colorado National Monument, officials said Wednesday. She was 54.

Mesa County Coroner's Office will investigate Cook's death and determine what caused it, the National Park Service said in a statement. Although officials did not share more information about the circumstances around her collapse, they warned other people visiting the monument to be aware of excessively high temperatures in the area during the summer season and the potential dangers of those warm conditions for human health, especially when participating in an outdoor physical activity.

"Hiking in hot weather can lead to serious health risks including heat exhaustion and heat stroke," the park service said in its statement about Cook's fatal hike. "Daytime temperatures in Colorado National Monument have exceeded 90 degrees in the past week, and hot weather is expected throughout the summer."