A group of women had to be airlifted or rolled off the sweltering peak as they hiked the scorchingly hot Phoenix Mountains for a religious reality show called “Bad Girls Gone God” on Thursday.
A total of eight women need help from firefighters coming down Camelback as temperatures soar north of 100 degrees. According to local media reports, hikers were not prepared and did not bring enough water.
Two women were airlifted to the hospital, several others were rolled down the mountain, and three were able to walk down on their own with the help of firefighters, the Phoenix Fire Department said.
Three women, aged 24, 42 and 50, were treated in hospital for heat-related illnesses, KPNX-TV reported.
The group of women from Alabama, Tennessee and California began hiking the Echo Canyon Trail early in the morning without much water or other supplies, the station reported.
According to the outlet, the hikers were filmed embarking on strenuous activities in an attempt to get closer to God.
“We praise, we adore, we do different activities, not only to test our physical tests, but also for mental tests,” Jasmin Hunter told KSAZ-TV.
Members of the ill-prepared group attribute well-designed rescues to God’s intervention.
“God is absolutely with us,” Tatiana Robinson reportedly added. “We’re thinking if they don’t call – I don’t know what will happen, but we probably won’t make it.”
“I started getting really, really dizzy, and after a while, I just said ‘no, I can’t do this,'” Robinson added.
“I barely made it. I had an episode where I almost passed out in the car. A lot,” Kristin Livingston told the radio.
Camelback Mountain is a well-known landmark in Phoenix, and reaching the 1,280-foot peak on the shadeless Echo Canyon trail is considered a daunting task.
“This is a challenging scramble/climb, not a hike,” reads a review on AllTrails.
“We definitely didn’t realize how intense it was,” Livingston told KPNX-TV.
The Phoenix Fire Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Government officials have warned that rescues from the trail, which is sometimes closed in hot weather, are not uncommon.
The actual temperature at the summit could exceed 150 degrees, according to a Facebook group titled “Please Don’t Die or Must Be Saved on Humpback Arizona.”
US News.
