PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A hiker died after falling from a tree and into the ocean on Sunday, according to officials.
Authorities learned that two people walked down the Devil’s Cauldron trail to take a photograph at a viewpoint along the cliff’s side. One of the hikers, 43-year-old Steven Gastelum of Seaside, climbed up a tree to pose for a picture.
Once he was up there, a branch snapped and he fell about 100 feet into the ocean beneath him.
Oregon State Police responded to the scene shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Coast Guard and Nehalem Bay Fire Department used jet skis to find Gastelum in the water and bring him to shore.
Gastelum was then rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.