Lost Oregon Hiker Fell to Death From Cliff on Alaska Trail, Troopers Say

An Oregon man who got lost during a hike in southeast Alaska over the weekend died after he apparently fell off a cliff, authorities said.

The man, Heath Didier, 49, of Portland, Oregon, was found at the bottom of a cliff in Ketchikan, Alaska, on Monday morning, according to a statement posted Tuesday by Alaska State Troopers.

The agency did not say what led to Didier’s fall, but Justin Freeman, a spokesperson for the department, estimated the height of the cliff at 75 to 100 feet, with some water running down its face.

About 9:37 p.m. Sunday, troopers received a notification from Didier that he was lost in the area of the Deer Mountain National Recreation Trail, authorities said. The trail is picturesque but rugged, and more than 10 miles long at an elevation of about 2,000 feet in Tongass National Park, according to the U.S. Forest Service. It is more than 200 miles southeast of the state’s capital, Juneau, and part of Tongass National Forest, which is the nation’s largest, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

“He reported that he was lost, cold, and not equipped with water, food, proper clothing, or other survival gear,” the troopers’ statement said.

Troopers said they lost contact with Didier about an hour later that evening.

The Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad then began searching for him that evening from the Silvis Lake Trail. “They were unable to locate him on foot,” the troopers said.

The following morning, volunteers used a helicopter to search near Didier’s last known location.

The crew found a man, believed to be Didier, dead and partially submerged in water at the bottom of a cliff, authorities said.

Crews were unable to safely recover the body Monday, but they returned the following day and took it to the state medical examiner’s office in Anchorage for an autopsy.

Freeman said that “while the cliff isn’t completely vertical, it is far too steep to climb or descend without climbing gear, such as harness, rope and anchor.”

Freeman described the area as “alpine, mostly rock, and this time of the year, has some patchy snow.”

He added that the Deer Mountain trail is difficult to see and navigate in the daylight if someone is not familiar with it, “and almost impossible in low-light fog,” the conditions that prevailed after Didier became separated from it.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Johnny Diaz/Ash Adams
c. 2026 The New York Times Company

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