After losing a drone on Sunday to high winds, I headed into the rugged mountains of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs National Monument to search for it.

Along the way I obtained its last coordinates. Although the distance wasn’t great, the closer I got the more rugged the terrain became.

As night approached I decided to find a place to spend the night. I was half a mile from the last coordinates, but the direction lay beyond the rugged ridge. It would be impossible to reach without daylight and several strenuous hours of climbing and route finding.

The winter night was cold with high winds and strong gusts. I was comfortable with my decision and weathered the 14 hours of darkness.

The next morning, I packed up and waited for some light. I was looking forward to some strenuous hiking so I could warm up. It took 3-4 hours to find a way over the ridgeline, but the other side was even more rugged.

I eventually found a valley leading to the coordinates, but there was no clear route down, so I had to explore and find a path. Even the best routes down were perilous with numerous slopes of snow, dead ends, dry falls and eventually a dead-end ledge overlooking a 100 ft. fall.

By this time, I was exhausted and saw no other way to descend. I knew there was no chance I would make it off the mountain before nightfall. I was lodged on an exposed cliff on the colder north side of the mountain.

The longer I waited the less chance of rescue. My choice was obvious; discretion is the better part of valor. I pulled my survival kit out of my backpack, pulled out my ResQLink VIEW, deployed the antenna and pressed the on button.

Within minutes, my PLB triggered a rescue, and I was speaking with an Air Force Rescue Coordination Center member.

He validated my situation and coordinated a rescue by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Coconino Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Flagstaff Unit.