Hiker posing for photo falls to death in ocean after tree limb snaps, Oregon cops say

A hiker posing for a picture plunged 100 feet into the ocean and died on Sunday, Oregon officials said.

Steven Gastelum, 43 of Seaside, was hiking Devil’s Cauldron trail in Oswald West State Park when he wanted to pose for a picture on the side of a cliff, officials said.

He climbed up a tree to pose for the snapshot over the cliff, Oregon State Police said in a Monday news release. When he was in the tree on the cliff’s edge, a limb snapped.

“A limb broke on the tree, causing him to fall approximately 100 feet into the ocean,” Oregon State Police said in the news release. “US Coast Guard helicopter and Nehalem Bay Fire Department jet skis assisted in locating Gastelum and bringing him to shore.”

Gastelum was taken in an ambulance to Tillamook Regional Medical Center and was pronounced dead, Oregon State Police said.

The Devil’s Cauldron Overlook Trail is only a 1/10th of a mile hike from Highway 101, according to Oregon State Parks.