KESWICK Mountain Rescue Team had to assist a small group of hikers who attempted to wild camp on Helvellyn over the weekend.
KMRT members headed out shortly after 2am when the trio decided to descend after discovering strong winds and driving rain were preventing them from erecting their tents.
During the descent, one of the three had decided to go on ahead to find Swirls car park, but had lost sight of the rest of the party. Rescuers said the walker was also unable to communicate with the remaining pair as he did not have their contact details on his phone. KMRT added none of the would-be campers had adequate torches on them.
It is understood the trio had arrived at their proposed pitch at dusk, but found weather conditions too challenging to be able to erect tents.
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“After some time trying they decided to return to their car but with it being dark and without adequate torches progress was very slow,” said KMRT’s incident report.
“Eventually they requested assistance. Several attempts were made to phone them and some intermittent contact was made.
“One member of the party had gone ahead of the other two and although he was making his way down he wasn’t sure if the others were following or were stationary. He said he didn’t have their phone numbers so this couldn’t be checked.
“Based on this a decision was made to send a small team out to accompany them off the hill. On arrival at Swirls the Keswick team members saw mobile phone lights approaching the car park and thankfully the three men arrived safe and well.”
The callout involved three team members and search dog ‘Brock’.
KMRT added that, before setting off on an adventure it is always worth asking: ‘Am I confident I have the knowledge and skills for the day? Do I know what the weather will be like? Do I have the right gear?’ and advised to check AdventureSmartUK.
Keswick Mountain Rescue Team is run as a charity with volunteers. For details on how to make a donation click here.
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