PORTLAND, Ore. -- A popular Gorge trail was closed Saturday after a second rock slide in the same spot that injured a family hiking together last Friday.

Five people, including three children, were hurt in the Friday rock slide. Multnomah County Sheriff’s officials said the group, consisting of a family of four and a young family friend, was hiking near Horsetail Falls when the slide happened just before 5 p.m.

Forest Manager Aaron Pedersen advises hikers of the Gorge’s hidden dangers. 

“This area that’s scoured out used to be covered in ferns and plant material like you see to the left,” said Pedersen. 

As far as the cause, Pedersen says it is all speculation, but chances are, he admits, it had a lot to do with the weather. 

“When we do get the freeze thaw process it causes ice to get behind the cracks, breaking pieces off the rock and that’s what brings a lot of stuff down,” added Pedersen.

Cascade Locks Fire Chief Jeff Pricher said the father threw himself over two of the children to protect them during the slide.

Later that same day, a man was found at the bottom of a cliff along the same trail system and he later died from severe head trauma. But no one knows if he was somehow involved in a rock slide or just slipped off the trail.

 Also: Man dies after cliff fall

Authorities said the rock slide on Saturday occurred in almost exactly the same spot where the family was hurt, but this time, no one was injured.

As for Friday's emergency, the mother and father, their six-year-old son, their 10-year-old daughter and her 10-year-old friend were all injured in the fall. Witnesses said the rocks were the size of "melons."

The mother and father both suffered serious head injuries and the dad also hurt his back when rocks fell on him while he shielded the kids with his body. Their 10-year-old daughter had a serious leg injury and her friend had a minor wrist injury. The couple's six-year-old son was also hurt, but the injuries were only minor bumps and scrapes, authorities said. All five were taken to Legacy Emanuel Hospital by ambulance.

Three other hikers who had been hiking near the family administered first aid and then helped them get down to the trailhead until paramedics arrived. The family asked that their names not be released.

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Authorities said the trail was rain-soaked and it's not uncommon for rocks to come loose in these conditons. But the trail has not been closed, despite the increased risk.

Fortunately nobody was killed in the slide, but Pedersen says with boulders the size of pumpkins tumbling down at a high rate of speed, it could have been a lot worse. 

“It’s too bad the injuries that happened, but they were lucky.  There could’ve been an entrapment.  We always expect the worse and hope for the best,” said Pedersen.  It is perhaps the only thing you can do in the Gorge, which happens to be both beautiful and unpredictable.