Two groups of hikers were rescued in quick succession after they trekked out to the same closed portion of a Columbia River Gorge trail, authorities said.
The first pair, ages 15 and 16, called 911 Thursday night after getting stranded on a cliff, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said. Search and rescue crews from the sheriff’s office were deployed along with more than two dozen volunteers to scour the wilderness for the teens, finding them just after 1 a.m. on Friday.
The teens were guided out of the wilderness and reunited with family by 4:30 a.m.
Hours later, around 1 p.m. on Friday, a 20 and 24-year-old pair of hikers called 911 reporting they had gotten lost, were surrounded by cliffs and could not find the trail.
Twenty search and rescue volunteers looked for the lost hikers, who were rescued and guided out of the same wilderness by 3 a.m.
Search and rescue coordinators determined that both sets of hikers had tried to navigate portions of the closed Rock of Ages trail, which has been unmaintained since the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, the sheriff’s office said.
The terrain is rugged and overgrown with steep cliffs and unstable terrain. A hiking app led one of the groups into an “immensely hazardous” area, the sheriff’s office said.
“MCSO reminds the public that the Rock of Ages trail is not maintained and conditions in the area are extremely hazardous and can quickly lead to disorientation or injury,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Hikers are strongly encouraged to stay on open, maintained trails, research routes using official land management resources, and carry the appropriate equipment for changing conditions.”
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