Mother Dies After Hiking Billy Goat Trail In Stifling Heat: MCFRS

BETHESDA, MD — A Severn woman died Saturday after hiking along the Billy Goat Trail near Great Falls, according to authorities.

U.S. Park Police have identified the woman as 32-year-old Rachel Parkerson. Her death, officials said, was attributed to hyperthermia — a condition characterized by an abnormally high body temperature. Parkerson, a mother of three, was hiking at a time when temperatures rose close to 100 degrees.

Montgomery County Fire and the U.S. Park Police were called to the trail in the C&O Canal Park around 1:55 p.m. to help a hiker suffering from a medical condition. Fire and rescue officials performed CPR on Parkerson before she was airlifted to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

She later died at the hospital, according to Montgomery County fire department spokesman Pete Piringer.

Loved ones have set up a GoFundMe page for Parkerson. As of Monday evening, people have raised $1,355 for her family.