Article content

WEST GLACIER, Mont. –A visitor taking photos of the scenery at Montana’s Glacier National Park fell into a creek, was swept into a culvert and plunged off a steep cliff to his death — all because he took one wrong step in flip flops.

Park officials said in a statement Monday that 26-year-old Robert Durbin of Corvallis, Montana, died Saturday.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Trying to get the perfect photo, tourist wearing flip flops slips and plunges off cliff to his death Back to video

They say Durbin was taking photos along Haystack Creek next to the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is known for its dramatic scenery and vertigo-inducing heights.

Durbin, according to his brother, was wearing flip flops and slipped while he was trying to take a photo of a waterfall.

“He lost his footing and fell,” William Durbin said. “He wasn’t wearing the proper shoes for that. I was told he had flip flops on. It was something silly, but I’ve done it. My son has done is. It was just an unfortunate accident.”

He fell into the creek and was washed through a culvert that goes beneath the road and empties into a 30-metre drop down a cliff.

The popular road was closed to traffic for about an hour while rangers and rescuers found and recovered the man’s body.

Glacier officials say the death isn’t considered suspicious. Falls are a leading cause of death in the park.

With National Post files