Father of 5 Has Fatal Fall on Popular Hike

One of the most popular hiking destinations in the Pacific Northwest proved fatal over the weekend for a 40-year-old father of five in Oregon. The unidentified man slipped at a switchback on the Multnomah Falls trail, reports Oregon Live. "He slid down a steep hill and then fell off a cliff," says a spokesman for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, per CNN. "We estimate it was a 100- to 150-foot fall." The man, from the Portland area, was hiking with his wife and children, who range from elementary school to high school age, per KPTV.

"Mom, Dad, five kids all here enjoying a beautiful day on normal falls," says John Plock of the Sheriff's Office. "And unfortunately, a tragic accident happened." More than 2 million people per year visit the falls, making it the top natural recreational destination in the Pacific Northwest, notes CNN. The family was about a half-mile above the site's Benson Bridge when the man slipped. It's the second year in a row a fatality has happened on the trail—a woman fell to her death in August 2022. (The previous year, a woman and her toddler survived a fall there.)