Well, just got back from a callout which has annoyed me a litle. I’m exhausted – only got 2 hours sleep last night due to various things, so I was looking forward to going to bed early and getting a good night’s sleep. Well, I didn’t get a good night’s sleep.
About midnight the pager went off with a call to Pont ar Daf layby. Got my stuff together and headed up over the mountain. When I got there, a team was already on its way up and I got some details from the IC. Apparently, 3 guys were in need of assistance on Corn Du where their tent had been blow away by a storm. There was some confusion over this report as I can’t find any details of a storm for the area for last night, but not to worry. We were concerned, as we often are, that they weren’t in the reported location as well, so Brecon team was called out to back us up.
We found them pretty much in the right location, and I headed up with a flask of hot coffee – they were basically cold and soaked and needed walking off. They also needed help with their kit, so a large number of us were up there to make things easier. Once down, they were very grateful and headed off home.
A few things that need commenting on.
- You’re not allowed to camp wild in the National Park without prior permission.
- Don’t go camping on a mountain in October without the necessary kit.
- Take a spare set of dry clothes in a waterproof bag.
- Prepare for the worst.
- If you’re only 45 mins from your car, and you can navigate to it, walk off instead of dragging 40 people out of bed until 4am. If you can’t navigate to your car in clear-sky night conditions, what are you doing there?
- Cheap geodesic tents will deform beyond any use as a shelter in strong(ish) winds. Go to a proper outdoor shop and ask advice, even if after that advice you go back and buy the right cheap tent.
- Wear more than shorts when out camping in October. Mal and I were in our Paramo salopettes because it was cold enough to warrant them, although I was very hot with them on, I’d have been too cold without them or at least without my regular trousers and a pair of tracksters or something beneath them.
- When driving away from the team that’s just rescued you, beeping and waving, make sure you’re not accelerating towards a dead end, and have to turn around and drive past the now highly amused rescue team again, this time looking rather embarassed.
Some of this may be unfair, but it’s late, I’m tired and ratty and we didn’t need to be called out. I think if they hadn’t have had their mobiles, they would have walked off safely. Right, off to a well-deserved bed now I think.