Tracking hound dog stranded on Colorado cliff face. See the grueling 13-hour rescue
A hound dog tracking a mountain lion was trapped on a Colorado cliff face for about a day until rescuers could reach her, photos show.
Tiny the hound became stranded in the middle of the cliff face near the mountain’s summit on Jan. 1, Mesa County Search and Rescue said on Facebook.
The GPS tracker on her collar showed her owners her general location, though they “realized it wasn’t somewhere they could safely reach her,” officials said in the Jan. 22 post.
The search and rescue team planned the rescue but “quickly encountered challenging terrain” that slowed their progress, officials said.
Rescuers split into two teams to find a route “through the many cliff bands that had halted progress toward Tiny’s location.”
A smaller team went east to try to find a break in the cliffs while a larger group tried to find one to the west, officials said.
During the next six hours, the smaller team “carefully rappelled and climbed through the cliff bands, working toward the ridge top” and ascending several thousand feet, officials said.
Then they finally reached the peak near where Tiny was trapped and lowered a rescuer down to retrieve her “using a harness designed for dog rescue in technical terrain,” officials said. They raised her back to the summit around 4 p.m.
Photos show the hound wearing the orange rescue harness on top of the mountain.
“The celebration of Tiny’s rescue from the cliff face was short-lived, however, as Team 1 had a new challenge: finding a safe route back to the mountain’s base in diminishing light,” officials said.
Those managing the rescue operation mapped a route that would take the team “across the other side of the mountain through snow-covered terrain, including multiple waterfalls that they rappelled off of with Tiny in tow,” officials said. “Due to Tiny’s diminished physical condition, Team 1 carried the dog for much of the trip.”
Team 2 rode horses and mules, provided by Tiny’s owner, to the other team carrying food and water, then swapped with Team 1 rescuers to give them a break, officials said.
“Tiny was reunited with her very thankful owners around 10 p.m., marking the end of a successful rescue mission,” officials said. “Every mission matters for Mesa County Search and Rescue, even if it’s Tiny.”
Collbran is about a 235-mile drive west from Denver on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains.
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Tracking hound dog stranded on Colorado cliff face. See the grueling 13-hour rescue."
