Volunteers guided four hikers out near Horsetail Falls

Two groups of hikers were brought out of the same closed stretch of trail in the Columbia River Gorge within about a day, The Oregonian reported. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said the first pair, ages 15 and 16, called 911 Thursday night after they were stranded on a cliff near the Horsetail Falls trails. Search-and-rescue crews and more than two dozen volunteers found them just after 1 a.m. Friday and guided them out. They were back with family by 4:30 a.m.

Around 1 p.m. Friday, hikers ages 20 and 24 called to say they were lost, surrounded by cliffs, and could not find the trail. Twenty volunteers searched, and that pair was guided out by 3 a.m. Coordinators learned that both groups had tried parts of the Rock of Ages trail, left unmaintained since the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. The sheriff's office described the route as rugged and overgrown, with steep cliffs and unstable ground. A hiking app led one group into a spot the office called immensely hazardous. The office asked people to stay on open, maintained trails, to plan from official land-management sources, and to carry equipment for changing conditions.