Woman falls to her death while hiking on Columbia Gorge trail

PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW/KTVZ) — A woman took a deadly fall while hiking on a trail in the Columbia River Gorge on Sunday afternoon, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, KGW reported.

The hiker was a woman in her 20s who was hiking with a group of five friends at Horsetail Falls, officials said. At one point, the woman separated herself from the group, and she went off the trail and fell about 50 to 60 feet to her death, the sheriff's office said.

Other hikers performed CPR but were unable to save her. 

Search and rescue teams arrived Sunday night along with the medical examiner and climbed the hillside to recover her body. 

"For the friends that were with this young lady, our sympathy goes out to them," said Deputy John Plock with the sheriff's office. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them. It's very difficult for them."

The name of the hiker has not been released to the public. 

"If you go off trail, it can be very dangerous," said Deputy Plock. "Unfortunately, that’s what happened here. This young lady separated herself from her group, went off-trail and ended up falling."

This is the second hiker to die in the Columbia River Gorge this year. In March, a woman fell and died while hiking. 

Just a week ago, another woman hiking Dog Mountain on the Washington side of the gorge fell 300 feet. She survived.