A group of walkers and their dog had to be rescued after getting cut off by a fast-flowing river at a remote Torridon bothy.
Three children were among five people and their pet airlifted from the Craig bothy by a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter on Tuesday.
The group found their exit from the site, south-east of Redpoint, blocked when heavy overnight rain meant the river burst its banks and became a raging torrent.
The two men, three children and a dog took shelter in the bothy, once one of the UK’s most remote youth hostels, in the far West of Torridon in Wester Ross.
A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “Although there was a wooden bridge, it was unsafe to cross it in the fast-flowing conditions.
“The Mark 5 Sea King from HMS Gannet in Prestwick was on scene at 10.35am on Tuesday. Heavy rain and force 6 westerly winds, as well as poor visibility, made the approach difficult, but the aircraft achieved a hover close to the bothy.
“Aircrewman Petty Officer Alan ‘Speedy’ Speed was winched to the ground and made a check on the walkers who had returned to the bothy. With all well and no injuries, the Sea King then landed close by and the party walked up to the aircraft.
“The river was in full spate,” Lieutenant Angela Lewis, duty observer, said. “All the people and their dog were absolutely fine, but there was definitely no way they could have crossed.
“As summer weather goes, it was really horrible – windy, rainy and cooler than you would expect at this time of year. And the ground was sodden, which made finding a safe place to land the helicopter a little more interesting.
“We put the aircraft down as close as we could and the group was escorted to it safely by Speedy.
“It was a rapid job and, with no one hurt and no further intervention required, we dropped them at Red Point road where their car was.”
Kieran F
15 August 2014Well done as always to the rescue services for a job well done in awkward conditions.
But... question: why did the group not go south? Lower Diabaig is much closer then Redpoint and avoids the river crossing. Even if the smaller streams were in spate (as seems likely) it is not too much of a diversion to follow the high ground over Sidhean a' Mhill. A helicopter pick-up seems a high price to avoid an awkward round trip back to the car.
Not really being critical here without all the facts, just not sure why the option to self-rescue is not discussed. Perhaps the kids were cold/wet/tired, in which case, fine. Although that would also mean they could not have got back to Redpoint even if the river had been crossable.
JB
15 August 2014Agreed, it seems there was no medical issue here and under the circumstances I really can't see the justification for the rescue call out.
Without having to cross the river, a straightforward walk of around an hour along the path in the opposite direction (which goes over slightly higher ground not prone to flooding) would have seen them reach the road at Lower Diabaig where they could have procured transport back to their car.
The fact they instead opted to call for rescue suggests a pretty low level of outdoor competence and disregard for the fact that they might be diverting rescue resources away from others in greater need elsewhere ...
Ian
15 August 2014Even though it was bad weather for summer (though this can be expected) the forecast should have indicated that a plan B walk be done. Probably not dealing with mountaineers here.
Stuart Smith
17 August 2014Keiran, JB and Ian- you cannot help yourselves having a dig can you. I was one of the two adults in the party. Best for you not to idly speculate when so inadequately cogniscent of the facts. Firstly, we made no call to be rescued. My wife had intelligently notified the police the night before after receiving a call from a walker I had met on the Diabaig path after walking out to assess our escape options. An outdoor correspondent for the Scotsman, he had relayed to my wife that we were safe and well with adequate food and would sit out the floods. All decision making was then with the rescue services. Please understand there was no safe way of leaving Craig- north or south- with young children, even the Diabaig path had an unfordable stream in spate. If you don’t believe my account of the conditions then read the comments of Lieutenant Angela Lewis and look at the aerial photo of the Craig River.
The Royal Navy had been on an overnight recue in Skye. On Tuesday morning and with no prospect of the rain easing, the rescue services made the decision to evacuate us.
Thank you but I have been ‘mountaineering’ for 25yrs and contrary to your ill-based impressions consider myself experienced. As you are all well aware the weather had not been predicted. Our children’s safety was paramount. Your heroic talk of “self rescue” is fatuous and ignorant.
If you wish to read Robin Howie’s account of his walk and take on our stranding, buy The Scotsman on August 30th.
If you know Craig and would like to see what the Craig River and bridge looked like, email me, you might then reconsider your hasty comments.
And if any of you are MBA members, you can read a full account of the episode in a forthcoming newsletter.
Regards
Stuart Smith
Inverness
balintore.smiths@btinternet.com
a nonymous
07 September 2014The people involved were very experienced mountaineers indeed. They did not and would not have called for assistance - a third party did.
It is easy to jump to patronising conclusions without knowing all the facts.