If you do field geology for any length of time, you run into dangerous situations. I didn't have many, but I did have a few., for example working in an underground mine * One dealt with returning back to camp after a days work of mapping geology in New Mexico. Normally, there are two of you working together, but, on this day, I was alone. I was not in very good physical shape because of my bouts with collapsed lungs. The way back to camp going the way I came was very long so I decided to take a shortcut.
I went to the edge of a cliff of limestone I'd guess was maybe 50 ft high or so and could see the road below that would be easy walking so I decided to climb down the cliff. It didn't look hard, and I started to pick my way down until I came to a spot where there was no easy way down. I could see there was a reasonably broad shelf below so I thought that I could drop down to it and hope there was an easy way down from there that I couldn't see. It was something like a 10 ft drop onto the shelf. If I dropped down and there was no way to get down further, I was stuck there until somebody found me, and it wasn't long until it would get dark.
So I edged my way over the little cliff, managing to hold onto the top edge of the cliff with my fingers and dropped onto the shelf below. It turned out there was an easy way down the rest of the way so I got on the road and walked slowly back to camp. Beer never tasted so good as when I got back to camp totally exhausted. After that experience I was given a partner.
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2013/01/working-underground-my-rational-self.html
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