It’s that time of year again when prospective new team members have a day out in the fells with existing members as an initial introduction and to ensure they can look after themselves and not be a burden to the team whilst in the hills. You could not wish for better testing conditions than this Saturday 11th of January. The forecast was for persistent rain driven along by gale force winds and we were not disappointed. We left the vehicles at Seathwaite where it was uncharacteristically but not surprisingly quiet for a Saturday. We walked up to Stockley Bridge then followed the Sty Head path to the next gate in the wall then made a beeline for the top of Seathwaite Fell up a steep gully on the nose of the fell through Aaron Crags. Up on top some navigation exercises were set with the pre-probationary team members tasked to find features on the map including small tarns and ring contours. The rain persisted down and the wind blew us around like skittles but all tasks were completed and we made our way down via Sty Head Tarn. Since our passage up the valley 3 hours earlier the water level in the River Derwent at Grange had risen by around 4 feet! A wild day to be out indeed. As far as the pre-probationary team members are concerned, they will now be invited to attend training evenings over the next 3 months to get to know us and us to show them what being in Keswick Mountain Rescue Team involves. We look forward to spending more time with them over the next few weeks.
