Linville Gorge has again become the scene of a tragic accident. According to reports, Michael Patrick Ryva of Forest Park, Illinois, fell about 80 feet in the gorge and died at the scene. Apparently the fall happened around 12:25 p.m. Thursday, June 3rd, while Ryva, age 30, was hiking Rock Jock Trail.
According to Hikingproject.com, this trail is described as a “relatively difficult” hike that grows more precarious in bad weather. There were pop-up thunderstorms throughout the day Thursday.
The trail is a rugged and remote, moderate-to-strenuous 6-mile hike along Dogback Mountain in the Linville Gorge Wilderness. In April of this year another hiker died in a long fall near the Babel Tower Trail in Linville Gorge.
