First scan the canyon topography for natural corridors and obstacles. Plot a grid of potential waypoints, then prune any that force sharp turns or steep climbs. Prioritize the fewest waypoints that keep the drone in line of sight and below any no‑fly zones. Add redundancy: for each critical waypoint, find an alternate that’s only a few hundred meters away, just in case of signal loss. Finally, run a simulation to check fuel consumption, battery life, and time; tweak until the route hits all three metrics. Simple, efficient, and unbreakable.