A man in his 20s was slightly injured but needed rescuing Monday afternoon when he fell about 40 feet from a cliff he was climbing along the Twin Falls Trail.

Rescuers with Eastside Fire and King County Search & Rescue responded to the accident at about 1:40 p.m. Monday, July 14. They found the man a little over a mile from the trailhead, on the bank of the South Fork about 100 feet upstream of the Upper Falls Bridge. He was conscious, but could not hear rescuers when they tried calling his cell phone, because of the noise of the river. He indicated that he’d hurt his head and elbow.

Firefighters performed a high-angle rescue, using ropes to climb the steep terrain down to the victim, then stabilizing him for transport and lifting him out. Volunteers from King County Search and Rescue then carried the man out at around 4 p.m.

The man had several facial cuts, and rescuers examined his head and elbow before taking him by ambulance to a hospital.