Point Reyes cliff collapse kills 1 hiker, injures another

Five hours before a cliff gave way Saturday, killing one hiker and injuring another at Point Reyes National Seashore, Karen Blasing snapped a photo of dozens of people who ventured past warning signs to the bluff overlooking Arch Rock. “It was clear no one should be on that rock with the huge fissure,” she said. less Five hours before a cliff gave way Saturday, killing one hiker and injuring another at Point Reyes National Seashore, Karen Blasing snapped a photo of dozens of people who ventured past warning signs to the ... more Photo: Karen Blasing Photo: Karen Blasing Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Point Reyes cliff collapse kills 1 hiker, injures another 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

One hiker died and another was seriously injured Saturday after a sandstone bluff gave way at Point Reyes National Seashore, sending the two plummeting down a 70-foot cliff, authorities said Sunday.

The hikers, both adults who were not identified, set out Saturday afternoon on the popular 8.2-mile hike along Bear Valley Trail to the Arch Rock overlook, said John Dell’Osso, a spokesman with the National Park Service.

Sometime before 6 p.m., the hikers went past warning signs onto a hazardous overlook, which collapsed and plunged them among the rubble and rock to the beach below, authorities said.

Two citizens who happened upon the scene worked to free the hikers while a helicopter from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office flew the two back to the trailhead, where a medical helicopter was waiting, Dell’Osso said.

One of the hikers was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

The sandstone cliffs along the coastline at Point Reyes are inherently unstable and are prone to crumbling, officials said.

Three days before the collapse, the park service posted numerous signs along the trail warning visitors about a fissure that had opened up along the bluff at the end of the trial, Dell’Osso said.

Officials posted hazard signs on the path, in the visitors’ center and at the point where the large crack jutted along the cliff. Authorities were not sure what the hikers were doing on the unstable bluff.

Los Altos resident Karen Blasing was hiking with her husband and two friends when they got to the cliff around 1 p.m. Saturday and saw the hazard signs posted. More troubling, though, were the dozens of people she spotted out on the bluff.

“It was clear no one should be on that rock with the huge fissure,” she said. “We stayed back, but many others were unconcerned and dangerously taking chances.”

About five hours later, returning from the hike, she saw two helicopters heading toward the cliff and said she was worried someone might have been injured.

Officials later completely closed the area due to concern about further crumbling.

“Obviously there is a tragedy and one person didn’t survive, but one person did and hopefully this won’t happen again,” Dell’Osso said.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky