Wastwater Screes – Sat 17th Jun 2023

The team received a call this afternoon from Cumbria Police about a party of three adults and a dog who had lost confidence that the could safely negotiate the lakeshore route at the bottom of the Screes, potentially having gone upwards rather than staying close to the lake. Like many others, they probably found that traversing the boulder fields and/or very loose scree pushed them out of their comfort zone. Some dogs can find it very difficult too.

The standard team response was initiated, involving a foot party and a boat party to provide the easiest and quickest rescue, with a further small ‘receiving’ team based on the road side of the lake. However on this occasion we found no people to rescue. Whilst searching with the boat was ongoing, a further message was received from Cumbria Police that the party had managed to self rescue after all, and in the absence of a stable phone signal had been unable to make contact with us. The team was then stood down and returned to base.

Edit: The National Trust have recently improved the signage at both ends of the route which should help, but probably won’t avoid all callouts.