My first thought was that there could have been a "just keep going downhill and we'll get to the loch" scenario.
I done that once and got funneled into a mess of cliffs that I didn't want to be in - sometimes going back the way you came isn't much of an option.
You get some nasty loose and moist slopes under rhodies with no vegetation holding the ground together.
You want panic? As kids a couple of pals and I accidently disturbed a wasp nest while we were clambering through a rhodie patch. We all got stung a bunch of times in the minute or so that it took to escape the tangle of trunks. :aargh4:
Now that was panic!