It is dumb to be out in the dark. He might have been caught out but he still should have had a powerful flashlight.

I have been out in mountains after dark since one of my hobbies is collecting fluorescent minerals. When I go to a site I prepare by scouting it by daylight and make sure I have two working flashlights on me if I drop one.

My scariest experience was at Opal Hill near Fruita. I hiked pretty far up a nasty loose rock side with a flash. Then I turned it off and let my eyes get used to the dark and then turned on my UV light. Millions of scorpions! Literally. Every square foot must have had 5 or 6. They were the type that blend into the rocks so they didn't show up in visible light but they glow green in UV. I walked down that hill very carefully. I did not want to fall down.