Hiker rescued after falling down cliff in Columbia Gorge

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. — A hiker has been rescued in Oregon, apparently three days after he fell down a 50-foot cliff in the Columbia River Gorge.

The Coast Guard and the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office say they got the 43-year-old to safety on Friday night after he was discovered by two other hikers at the base of the cliff, about a mile from the start of the Gorton Creek Trail.

He was conscious but injured, disoriented and possibly hypothermic, and authorities said he likely would not have survived the night.

The first responders who arrived were unable to transport the man to safety due to the difficult terrain, but a Coast Guard helicopter crew extracted him and brought him to a Portland hospital in stable condition.

Deputy Joel Ives, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said in an email Saturday that first responders could obtain only limited information from the injured hiker about his ordeal, but they believed he had been in the area since Tuesday on what was intended to be a day hike.