Hiker reaching for dropped AirPods falls off cliff and needs rescue, KY officials say

A hiker tumbled off of a cliff while reaching for her dropped AirPods, but caught a lucky break on the way down, Kentucky rescuers say.

Rescuers responded to a call for help on the Whistling Arch trail, at the Red River Gorge Geological Area, at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, the Wolfe County Search & Rescue Team said in a news release. They arrived to find a hiker trapped along the side of a cliff.

Rescuers say the hiker was trying to retrieve a pair of AirPods she had lost higher up along the cliff face, but as she was reaching for them, “she lost her footing and went over the edge” of the 20-foot cliff.

But instead of slamming onto the ground below, rescuers said she crashed into a tree, which cut her fall short and “prevented a much more serious incident.”

“A team member rappelled to her location and placed her in a rescue harness,” according to the crew. “Top side team members then conducted a single person raise to get her back to the top of the cliff.”

The hiker was uninjured, rescuers said.

The Red River Gorge Geological Area is a roughly 60-mile drive southeast from Lexington.

“The Red River Gorge Geological Area has more than 100 natural arches, the greatest concentration of arches east of the Rocky Mountains,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.

This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Hiker reaching for dropped AirPods falls off cliff and needs rescue, KY officials say."