Hiker killed in Point Reyes cliff collapse ID’d as San Francisco woman

A hiker who tumbled to her death after the Arch Rock cliff collapsed at Point Reyes National Seashore was identified Monday as a 58-year-old San Francisco resident.

Emergency crews had to extricate Nancy Blum, who fell Saturday onto the shoreline 70 feet below, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Division. She was flown by helicopter to a ranger station and pronounced dead.

The cause of her death remained under investigation, pending the completion of toxicology tests.

She was one of two adults found about 6 p.m. Saturday, lying on a pile of rocks and boulders that collapsed with the cliff. The surviving hiker suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

For now, Arch Rock is closed and would be “very difficult” to repair, park spokesman John Dell’Osso said.

The unstable, sandy cliff could continue to collapse and erode, further burying Arch Rock, a formation carved by ocean waves beneath it.

National Park Service officials first reported cracks on top of Arch Rock on Thursday and closed it to visitors. The cracks weakened the cliff, making it dangerous to climb or walk on.

Signs warning about the closure and risks were posted Thursday and Friday at the visitor center, and four notices were placed along the trail leading up to the cliff.

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