PORT ANGELES — First responders helped four hikers who found themselves stranded on a bluff after the tide came in and blocked their exit.
Deputies began searching for the hikers in the beach area northwest of Diamond Point at about 8:28 p.m. Monday, according to a news release.
The hikers were stranded by the tide, so they attempted to climb the bluff to get to a nearby road.
The bluff became too steep and the walls of the bluff continued to give way the higher they climbed, according to the news release.
“The hikers reached a point where it was too dangerous for them to continue to climb up and too dangerous to attempt to slide down the bluff back to the beach,” the news release said.
The deputies found the hikers at about 9:44 p.m. Two of them were children, ages 8 and 9 years old, and another was a 69-year-old woman. The age of the fourth was not provided.
Identities were not provided.
Deputies helped two hikers down, but two others were up to 60 feet higher up the bluff in a more dangerous position.
Clallam County Fire District No. 3 and its technical rescue crew were called to the scene to help the other two hikers. The crew used ropes and other gear to help the two hikers down to the beach.
