Camas man falls to death while trail running in Columbia River Gorge

The body of a Camas man was recovered early Sunday morning after he apparently fell from a cliff while trail running along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Columbia River Gorge.

Authorities identified the man as 33-year-old Nicholas Wells.

The search began Friday evening after Wells’ wife called the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon to report that Wells had gone trail running on the PCT and not returned, according to the sheriff’s office.

Wells was in touch with his wife off and on throughout the day, and he told her he lost the trail at some point but found it again. She became worried when he stopped responding to her calls and texts, the sheriff’s office said.

The Hood River Crag Rats and Pacific Northwest Search & Rescue responded. Multiple teams went up the PCT and searched through the night, using cellphone location data, but they found no sign of Wells. The teams returned Saturday morning with additional personnel from Portland Mountain Rescue and Clackamas Search and Rescue, the sheriff’s office said.

A sheriff’s office airplane and Blackhawk helicopter from the Oregon Air National Guard also joined the search.

Searchers began also looking along the Ruckel Creek Trail. New cellphone location information provided by Wells’ family allowed searchers to locate his body at about 1 a.m. Sunday at the bottom of an 80-foot cliff, about a mile from the freeway, according to the sheriff’s office.

The recovery operation resumed later Sunday. Wells’ body was taken to an area funeral home.

“Our hearts go out to the family of Nick Wells, and on their behalf we ask for privacy as they grieve their tragic loss,” the sheriff’s office said Monday.