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July 2002 - We went back to the Lake district again, based once more at The Wasdale Head Inn.
The planned climbs were:
Three more peaks...Climbers were Tim and Dan Ecott.
The day started with pouring rain and cloud cover so low that no peak was visible from the Wasdale Head Inn. We looked as though we were going to have a day in the Inn with no climbing at all. However, the weather cleared a bit around midday, so we thought a good idea would be to go part way up Scafell to check out our route, now deferred (so we thought at the time) to the next day. So we set off from Wasdale Head across the base of Lingmell round into the Lingmell Gill valley that leads up to the scree at Mickledore. As the weather continued to improve, we decided to make a go of it and continue up. We figured that we had enough daylight to allow this. So we headed on up the valley and forked right at Brown Tongue, keeping us on the Scafell (as opposed to the Pike) side of the scree. We continued on up, looking for Lords Rake. We missed it completely, and finished up on the top of the Mickledore ridge. However, from here we could see the Lords Rake clearly, and went back down towards it. At the base of the Rake, we looked up and figured we would climb it, despite a fair bit of water coming down. We started up the main part, about 100 metres of steep climb in the Rake gully. At the top of this part the way is partially blocked by a large (recently) fallen rock which we had to scramble round. Then there is some 20 metres of 'down' before another 50 metres of 'up'. This part was quite steep with a fair drop to the right. At the top of Lords Rake, Dan officially ranked that part of the climb as 'Cool'. The path to the top of Scafell is fairly easy from the top of the Rake, although we did initially head for the wrong 'peak' before seeing the main peak some 300 metres away. From the top, it is clear to see that the Pike is higher. This answers a mystery that has existed since we visited the Pike the first time (i.e. the people on Scafell LOOKED higher than we were!).
We took a more gradual route down Scafell, heading towards the head of Wastwater. Realising that this would take us a fair way off the route back to Wasdale Head, we decided to get ourselves back onto the original path up. This required us to scramble down some scree towards the river, which took us a lot longer than we first thought, and was quite tiring. Back on the path, we retraced our steps up back to the Wasdale Head Inn. When we got back, at about 7pm, we were quite weary.
We decided to try to get to the summit of Great End. To get there we planned a route that took us up to Sty Head and part-way along the Corridor route to Scafell Pike. We checked the Wainwright and this showed a 'left turn' off the corridor which lead up to Great End. Easy...
The day started with fine weather, so we wasted no time in getting ready and set off after the statutory Inn breakfast. Once we were on the corridor route we kept our eyes open looking out for a 'left turn' to take us up some scree to Great End. On the Wainwright map it looked like we cross two river gulleys, then turn left. As we crossed each gill we were looking left all the time waiting for evidence of a path. At the third gill crossing and a good 15 minutes of walking on from there we realised that this left turn was either not that obvious or just not there. Since the cloud was rumbling in around us we stayed safe and stuck to the path that we knew and headed for Scafell Pike.
Once on top of Scafell Pike the cloud had cleared and we could see our intended and original goal in the distance. Between it and us was a ridgeway path with lots of walkers marking the route. After walking the three lots of 'down' and two lots of 'up', we reached the summit of Great End. Another of the top ten English peaks dusted off. We did however miss a golden opportunity to 'bag' Ill Crag and Broad Crag on the way - both these are in the top ten too.
Once we had taken the photographs and video the route down was planned. Since we didn't have a plan we looked at the map. Three options were available. We could follow a route which took us directly down to Sty Head, but which involved a lot of climbing down rocks. The other option was to take a path down Esk Hause, which would eventually bring us out on the route to Seathwaite but well out of our way. We opted for this less dangerous route. The third option we didn't think about until we saw people coming up what looked like a gully, leading back to the corridor route. Could this have been the original route we had planned? We wandered closer to the gully edge trying to spot a path but nothing obviously marked out could be seen. We eventually walked far enough down to the edge of the gully to see what lay before us. The route looked walkable and we could see where it joined up with the corridor route. Bingo, we found ourselves going down the route that we intended to come up. A short scramble down the rock filled gully brought us to a boggy section before joining up with the corridor route and the usual traffic of people with pets.
Once on the corridor route we walked back towards Sty Head, cutting a little corner off on the way. Then it was back down the traverse of Great Gable on a rocky path back to the Wasdale Head Inn and a nice hot bath. We were out for about 9 hours.
We wanted to add Skiddaw to our list of climbed peaks. As we did not have any O/S maps or the obligatory Wainwright which covered this peak, we had to buy these at the Wasdale Head Inn 'Barn Door' Shop. Climbing this 3000 footer entailed a drive to Keswick, which took about 75 minutes. We parked up at Millbeck, and followed the footpath sign to start our trip up. Gradients on the early stages were steep and a bit of a slog. But the steepness meant that we gained height quickly, and we pushed on. A fairly relentless gradient did provide a respite for a short while as the path dipped and levelled out, just before the final pull up to the top. This bit of the climb, fairly easy at first, had a 100 metre stretch with the most severe of gradients, which made progress perilous and slow. However, we hung on and made it up to the South Top cairn OK. From there, an easy stroll to the peak shelter and trig point was all that was needed. We got up in 1hour 55 minutes.
We rapidly decided that we would not attempt to go down the way we had come up, the steep top section being too risky. Instead, we opted for a more straightforward route down which also took in Skiddaw Little Man, enabling another peak being added to our list. We arrived at the (wrong) car park after a total time on the peak of about 4 hours. We needed to walk for a mile or two to get ourselves back to where we had left the car.
We happened to have picked the fastest, steepest route up. By comparison, the route down (which was busy with walkers), offered a more gradual and easier route.
Not a bad weekend. The weather was fine apart from the dreadful start on Friday, so we managed to bag a three thousand footer each day for three days (and a few minor peaks along the way too). So the tally was:
| Date | Peak 1 | Peak 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Friday July 12th | Scafell, 3162ft | - |
| Saturday July 13th | Scafell Pike, 3208ft | Great End, 2985ft |
| Sunday July 14th | Skiddaw, 3054ft | Skiddaw Little Man, 2837ft |
Check out the photo gallery HERE
