But the headline alone is funny enough –
Lost Lake District fell walkers rescued twice
What, I thought, they were rescued and then ran away and got lost again? And the answer is yes.
Volunteers from three rescue teams were call on Friday when a man aged 73 and his daughter in her 50s failed to turn up at accommodation near Keswick.
Rescuers were called the next night to search for the same man, who had been joined by a second daughter.
Team leader Mike Park said the group lacked basic equipment like maps.
Did they think that’s just how fell walking is done? You tramp along, you get lost, you get rescued, you have a good sleep, you do it all again the next day?
Apparently, yes.
Mr Park, who leads the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team, said: “After dealing with these people on Friday we thought they would have learned their lesson and perhaps not continue with their planned walk, especially as the elderly man had sustained an ankle injury.
“But unfortunately we got a call at 10.30pm on Saturday to say they had not turned up at their next accommodation in Grasmere.
“We eventually found them at 2am on Sunday off their planned route, but otherwise uninjured.”
I wonder where they are now…
Wetwang? Sorry i get all adolescent over silly place names.
I have friends who are on the mountain rescue team here in Galway (Eire), and they have plenty of stories like this.
davidmc, you might find this book an interesting read.
Thanks phillip, i think ive got it somewhere or one very similar.
Stories like this are happening all too frequently, there was a recent warning in the Cairngorms, that people shouldnt rely on thier mobile (cell) phones GPS, i think after a large group got themselves lost. The mountain rescue are all volunteers, risking thier own lives, it must be annoying to do it twice, im sure most people learn the lesson first time round.
Presumably they were looking for a frozen waterfall.
Hahaha – score, Sili!
Heh, I once heard of a father and son who were rescued from an inflatable dingy in Morecambe Bay twice in the same day. The second time, the coastguard ‘accidentally’ punctured the dingy during the rescue…
I think it’s partly a cultural problem. A lot of British people fail to appreciate that parts of Britain can be dangerous. They think that becoming lost in the wilderness, or dying of exposure are things that can only happen abroad.
Article says one of the rescuers broke a leg. This is why you don’t do stupid things in the mountains — even if you don’t give a damn for your own welfare, have a thought for the risk taken by the good people who have to come looking for you!
A lifetime ago, I did a course at the Ullswater Outward Bound School, during which I walked up and back down a good deal of the Lake District. And of course we were taught how to find your way — and what to take, just in case. I was back last summer to visit my cousins in Keswick, and hiked up and down couple of fells. I noticed they always took a decent-sized backpack along, even just for a day hike. But my cousin is a former Outward Bound instructor, Mountain Rescue, and National Park Warden, so he’s probably prepared for anything.
I recently read a different “rescue” story from Iceland that was only funny at the first sight.
A woman took part in her own rescue search.
Somehow the driver of the tourist bus counted one short and they concluded that the Asian looking woman in the blue anorak had gotten lost. Well, after a several hour walk, the woman had changed into something different and nobody noticed her because, you know, Asian people all look alike (and probably don’t have names, even if they’re members of your travel group). So, she volunteered for her own search party until she noticed that they tried to describe her (hint: if you describe people so badly that they don’t recognize themselves you suck).
One of our walking friends works with Keswick mountain rescue (these teams are all unpaid volunteers, by the way) — an he has lots of stories like this. We were walking with him up there a couple of weeks ago, actually.
It’s not usual for him to have to get a page at dinner or whenever and have to go look for someone who didn’t turn up where they were supposed to.
It’s surprising common for people to venture into the mountains unprepared. They see Julia Bradbury on mountain walks on TV and figure ‘How hard could it be?’ or ‘They wouldn’t let us do this if it were dangerous.’
hyperdeath says:
A lot of British people fail to appreciate that parts of Britain can be dangerous.
Oh yeah. I was reading an article recently about the Bolton Strid, which is a deceptively tranquil looking stretch of river that is about 6 feet wide but a swirling 60 feet deep, and if you fall in no one will ever find your body. *shiver*
Britain does look very tame even in the Highlands of Scotland compared to countries with high mountains and thin populations, but the quick changing weather can make it dangerous – violent winds can knock you off a ridge, the mist can come down, rain will turn trickles into floods. The tides can be fierce in some places as well, rising faster than a person can run.
A few days ago some idiots insisted on driving across the causeway from Holy Island on the Northumbrian coast, abusing people who told them that the tide was coming in. They then had to be rescued from the roof of their car by an RAF helicopter.
It does give the armed forces something to do.
I do wonder about people depending on technology, smart phones and the like for finding their way. I’m not a good map reader, but it’s good to get some sense of landscape, direction etc.
Lady Bracknell’s words come to mind …