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Emerging out of the plane, they found they had landed 100 yards from a rock cliff. It looked to be at least a half mile down, lined with pine trees and a river at the very bottom. The odds of being found if they'd gone down it would've been extremely low. Melissa said a quiet prayer of thanks to God as she looked down at the river below.

They were on some sort of plateau, and there were probably grassy fields under the snow. Roger knew from charts that they were along the Wyoming/Colorado border, but he had no idea if they were near a populated area due to the lack of visability during the blizzard. He'd sent out a distress signal, but he had no idea whether anyone had received it. They also had a hand-held radio, so he saw no point to staying with the plane another night.

The cliff eliminated their ability to go southeast, so they decided to go north. The area was more open than the forest to the west, and they hopefully would be easier to spot. They did however leave a note in the pilot's seat of the plane, just in case it was found first.

Their backpacks were fairly light, not by choice but because they didn't have much left to take with them. Roger carried the blankets, half of the matches, half of the food, and the radio. Melissa carried the rest of the food and matches, a set of extra clothing for each of them, and the first-aid kit. They emptied all their bottled waters into a canteen for each of them.

Roger and Melissa set a quick pace at first, wanting to move as fast as possible while it was still warm. Every once in awhile, Roger tried the radio. No one responded.

Another blizzard was going to hit that afternoon. Dark clouds were already beginning to roll in from the west again, and they knew they couldn't be caught out in the open.

After two miles, they reached dense evergreen forest like they had seen to the west. There was no longer a clear direction to go. Roger and Melissa stared at each other for a minute, then looked up as the first snowflakes began to fall. They were both wondering whether they should've stayed with the plane.

"We need to find some sort of shelter." Roger finally said.

"Like a cave?" Melissa replied.

Roger nodded, and they began to go northeast. It was getting extremely cold again. The hillside temporarily cut down on the wind, but it wasn't going to help them from the snow. Melissa suddenly stepped in a puddle and felt it through her sock. It didn't take but a few steps for her left foot to go numb. Fears of frostbite and possibly

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