Been lucky a couple times. Closest call was in Jackson Co in the 90's as a young hunter. Hiked way up towards the top then down a ridge. Had food and water for an all day sit. Fell asleep sitting under a big beechnut and woke up with snow covering the top of my legs. I figured I better start down the hill as I only had about 1-1/2hr till dark. Decided to go straight down hill to the valley rather than retracing steps and ended up on a bluff. I tried to go back up but kept sliding down. I was stuck. Luckily the old men always made me carry rope but it was only enough to lower my pack and rifle down but still about 7 ft off the ground. My only option was to jump to a small tree and try to coon it down. Took about 30 min to get the courage. I tried again to go up but would slide and feared I would pull a Hank Jr and fall down the whole Mnt. Jump was successful but that tree wasnt big enough so It bowed over and I rode it to almost the ground when it popped. Only fell about 5ft or so but a rock caught my head. Saw stars and had a bloody noggin but was walking down the hill towards camp in a blizzard when I heard a gun shot. I fired a shot back to answer. The old men were coming to find me. I heard their yells and walked towards them. They could tell I was a lil shook up so they doctored my head and gave me some whiskey. You could tell they were worried but also kinda proud the young buck made it out. Almost like I gained their respect that day.
