Family, friends mourn loss of hiker, 24, who fell off 180-foot cliff in Angeles National Forest

MONROVIA, Calif. (KABC) -- A 24-year-old hiker from Monrovia died over the weekend after falling from a cliff in the Angeles National Forest.

Christian Agudelo and a friend went for a daylong hike Sunday in the Chantry Flats area of the forest. They stopped to rest while coming down a steep trail.

"He stood up and he didn't get his footing right and he slipped and that quickly he just went down the mountain," Jonathan Gomez said.

Authorities said he died at the scene after falling about 180 feet.

His friends and loved ones were stunned by his death, but said the second-youngest sibling of five brothers died doing something he loved.

They remember him as someone who always had a smile on his face and an upbeat attitude.

"Chris has an energy about him that's infectious. It's so positive. He was just a lover of life, of his friends, of memories. There was nothing Chris knew better than to have a good time and make the people around him happy," Anthony Gangemi said.

Friends started a GoFundMe account seeking donations for Chris' memorial at www.gofundme.com/fa68cy8s.

The fund has already surpassed its $5,000 goal.