Emergency crews had to use ropes to rescue an injured Washington motorcyclist after he plunged about 25 feet down an embankment in eastern Oregon. Photo courtesy: Oregon State Police.

RICHLAND, Ore. — Emergency crews had to use ropes to rescue an injured Washington motorcyclist after he plunged about 25 feet down an embankment in eastern Oregon and landed near a river.

Oregon State Police Lt. Dave MacManiman says 58-year-old Christopher Cook, of Langley, Wash., was seriously hurt in Thursday's crash off curvy and gravel-strewn State Highway 86. The accident occurred about 31 miles east of Baker City and Interstate 84.

According to Oregon State Police Lieutenant Dave MacManiman, on Thursday at around 3:15 p.m. Cook's 1998 Harley Davidson motorcycle was heading eastbound on Highway 86 when it left the right shoulder into loose rock. Police said Cook was unable to regain control and drove down an embankment — coming to stop near Powder River.

Cook was brought up to the highway after the rope rescue and transported by Richland ambulance to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Baker City.  Airlife then transported him by air to St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise, Idaho, for further treatment.

OSP troopers from the Baker City Area Command office are continuing the investigation. Baker County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon Department of Transportation also assisted at the scene. 

This motorcycle crash is one of a growing number in the Pacific Northwest, according to KATU.com reports.

On Thursday in North Plains, Ore., just went of Cornelius Pass Road, a high-speed motorcycle crash left two dead at the scene. The driver was 28-year-old Leonid "Leo" Brodsky of Hillsboro; the passenger was 17-year-old Jessica Leigh Elder, a soon-to-be senior at St. Helens High School. (For more on this fatal crash, see "Fiery motorcycle crash kills rider and passenger.")

- See other motorcycle crashes covered by KATU.com.