04/12/2026
Hound dogs. Such amazing animals. Quite possibly, of domestic animals, are allowed to live in the most natural state. They are loved and cared for. They are trained and taught to what the dog naturally loves. Their owners are committed to the dog as much as the opposite. It's a bond beyond work and business. However, occasionally, that dogs drive and natural instinct pushes them to pursue hard and they can find themselves in tricky situations.
This happened over the weekend for a friend of mine. While chasing a bear, the hound found itself on a little tiny ledge with no way up or down. I was called to assist. Looking at satellite imagery of the area, there didn't seem to be anything that should cause this. But it happened.
I prepped the gear, got up early and headed to meet him. A mile hike in to evaluate. Definitely doable. I tied my main line anchor - that, in theory, should be sufficient (turned out it was and it was a good thing it was). I had brought stuff to set up a belay line, but I didn't bring enough anchor equipment to actually set it. So, rather than using it as a belay, i tied it hard and just let it run freely through my gear so that the end of it made its way to where I was going in case I needed it for something. Down one ledge, a second, a third, still no dog. He was barking, so we knew he was good, but where was he. The 200 feet of rope ended. I edged to the next ledge and there he was, another 10' down. I needed more rope. I called up to the owner of the dog, couldn't communicate. Well, that's not good. I started to rig up to start ascending back up, but just before I started that, the owner had made his way to a different point that we could communicate and I asked him to undo 1 (and only 1, that's always scary) of the ropes. He did. I pulled it down. it kept getting caught on stuff, but i continued to pull it and let it sling back so that it would jiggle free until I finally had the top end of it. (oh, and by the way, a rain storm rolled in a set deep.) I tied what I call a grapevine, but I don't really think that's it's name but I can't think of it right now, to join the two ropes. That last ledge was completely surrounded by brush. I had to get all the rope off and through the brush. That's how I fell last January is I didn't take the time to make sure the rope was completely clear. I finally made it down to the dog.
I don't know how he ended up where he did and didn't fall further. The ledge was literally only about 3' wide and maybe 9' long covered in really loose dirt. I was nervous at that point because he got excited and I was nervous he was going to jump around too much and all the sudden the sand would slide off the slickrock and he would go. I got his harness on and I was going to climb up and haul him up one ledge at a time, but just as I was about to start, i reevaluated. I could lower the dog 15' or I could haul the dog over 200' feet. I was concerned that if I sent the dog down, I would also have to go down to unhook him. I was also nervous that if he started jerking on the rope, he would act as a belay and I wouldn't be able to descend the rope. Ultimately, I decided to go down, so i adjusted the hook up and lowered him off. He thought I was crazy for pushing him off the ledge, he got about 8' down and found a footing. That could have made things difficult. I pulled him back up enough and flipped the rope a bit harder and he slid passed that point that time and I was able to lower him all the way down. Then, down I went. I unhooked and had the houndsman pull the ropes up.
At this point, I'm in the bottom of a canyon that i have no idea how to get out of, but i knew there weren't cliffs everywhere, there had to be a way up. Moving away from where we originally landed, I hit an elk trail. I knew that didn't mean it would be easy, but it should mean it could happen. It was steeper than a cows face and slicker than it's snot, especially in the rain and mud, but I made it up. Then, I realized i had to go half way back down to be above the particular ledge I had rapelled off of to gather stuff up and then hike up again.
