Valley Walking

Yesterday’s wind had diminished somewhat, but it was still strong enough to buffet me around as I followed Lingmell Beck up the valley. It was surprisingly warm though and it felt a bit like walking towards a large hair drier. There were blue skies and the sun lit the hillsides to the west. It looked like it was going to be a fine day. Ahead of me, mist was scuttling over the top of Sty Head pass. It would get so far into the Wasdale valley before dissipating. The landscape along this valley is one of the most dramatic in the Lake District. Scree slopes reached up to Great Gable’s southern craggy pinnacles on my left. On my right were the towering northern crags of Lingmell. At the head of the valley, I could see the northern end of the Scafell Pike massif including Great End and Broad Crag. As I progressed along the valley, a maze of ghylls, crags and waterfalls opened up below the massif. There was nobody else about and with such dramatic, primeval scenery I felt like I was the last person on earth. Just before the path started ascending to Sty Head tarn, the beck appeared to split with one leg heading up to the base of Lingmell’s eastern crags. This was the outflow from Piers Gill and the starting point for this exciting ascent route. 

Piers Gill

I followed a faint track along the left side of the gill. Obviously not a lot of people used this path. If you read any reports about Piers Gill, they will undoubtedly say at some point ‘never try to go up or down Piers Gill itself.’ It is a dangerous and potentially fatal option. So to get it out of the way, I’ll repeat the warning myself: ‘NEVER TRY TO GO UP OR DOWN PIERS GILL ITSELF.’ When you look at it, you’d wonder why anybody would consider attempting it. The gill averages a depth of 9 metres, but is much deeper in places. Its bottom is a mass of slippery boulders and tumbling water. Most people get into trouble by mistakenly using it as a descent route from the popular Corridor route at its top. Even then, I noticed that near to the top of the gill there is a rope across the ravine with a notice saying that you should not proceed down any further. Nor should walkers consider the path along its eastern edge an easy descent route. There is a 15 metre scramble involved which may be beyond some walkers. More of that later though. 

I made my way along the side of the gill and headed up to a fork in the beck. I crossed the left fork and followed the right one, keeping Piers Gill on my right side. At this point, as I looked towards Lingmell,  the huge depth of Piers Gill became apparent. It was awesome. I was thankful that the track kept well away from the edge of the gill. Well, up to the point where it didn’t. I reached a particular point where the path seemed to teeter on the edge and there was a short but easy scramble on to safer ground. I wouldn’t have fancied doing that particular bit with snow and ice about. It felt a bit committing too, since care would be needed if I wished to retreat. The area above it was away from the gill, but the track seemed to disappear. I spotted a couple of cairns and followed them on a vague track to a rock band. I assumed this was the scramble, although the track leading up to this spot looked hardly used. I checked further towards the gill, but couldn’t find an easier ascent point, and so returned to the same spot. The scramble was steep, but there were enough holds to make it feel safe. I believe I drifted off-piste near to the top. I went over to the left, whereas continuing straight up would have been a better option. There was no track or cairn at the top and I did wonder whether I’d scrambled up the correct route. If you are descending the rock band, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious start point; I wouldn’t have fancied descending myself. I continually ascended over a mixture of grass and rocks until I finally spotted an obvious track along the side of the gill. I noticed that this track continued downwards alongside the gill, and not the way I’d come up. Maybe, I had scrambled up the wrong bit…or maybe this gill track made its way across to my ascent point further down. Looking at images of the scramble on the web, I believe I did climb the same bit as everybody else. Anyway, I was up here now and I followed the obvious track along the side of the gill up to the Corridor route. Just as I reached this major path, a group of walkers came around the corner on their way to Scafell Pike. I was back in civilization again. 

Lingmell

Within a minute or two I left the Corridor route and headed off up the steep grassy slope of Lingmell. The wind that had been thankfully absent during my Piers Gill ascent rejoined me again. It was very strong and I steered well clear of Lingmell’s cliff edge that ultimately terminates at the bottom of Piers Gill. I was presented with a magnificent panorama from Lingmell’s summit. The morning’s mist had now burnt away and I could see the tarn at Sty Head Pass. The massive lump of Great Gable stood sentinel across the Wasdale valley. Despite the strong wind, it was actually quite warm. The sun was out and the gale force wind felt like it was from the Tropics. I walked down from the summit cairn and headed for Lingmell’s west ridge path. At first, the descent was reasonably gradual as I made my way through some small rocky outcrops. I met a couple of men walking the other way. They were on a Wainwright expedition to bag Lingmell, Scafell Pike, Scafell and Slight Side. I told them that it sounded like quite  a day’s outing, but they set off undeterred towards Lingmell’s summit. Over to my left I could see a large number of people walking up the tourist path to Scafell Pike’s summit. The sun had brought the masses out today.  There was a tremendous view down Wast Water as I made my way down. It was hard to drag my eyes away from it. This became necessary though as the broad ridge narrowed and got steeper. The path became a stoney zig-zag affair. I’d been up this path a few times and found going up much preferable to going down. I looked back at one point, towards a couple of walkers that I’d passed. One of them was on his front as though attempting the path as a scramble. I chuckled; it was steep, but not that steep.

Return

Before I reached the bottom of the valley, I branched away northwards on the path back to Wasdale Head. Walkers who have parked at Wasdale Head use this path on their ascent to Scafell Pike. I met quite a few on their way up as I made my way down. When I reached the valley bottom, I waited for a group of half a dozen Germans to cross the footbridge over Lingmell Beck. ‘Have you been to the top of Scafell Pike?’ asked one of them. ‘Not today, but a week ago’ I replied. For clarification I then added ‘it didn’t take me a week to walk down though.’ They all laughed and so I presumed my attempt at humour didn’t get lost in translation. 

There wasn’t a spare car parking space on the common land at Wasdale Head. A few cars, turned up, circled around and then headed back down the valley, presumably to the NT carpark. As I was taking my boots off, my neighbour turned with whom I’d chatted this morning. He’d made it to the summit of Scafell Pike and he’d been early enough for only a few other people to have been there. He’d seen plenty of folk as he’d been coming down though. 

It had been an incredible day and blessed with wonderful weather. The Piers Gill path had been very impressive and I wondered why I’d never bothered to do it before. It is certainly a ‘good weather' path though. It isn’t one I’d do when there is snow or ice on the ground. Nor would I use it for a descent option from the Corridor route. Oh, and as a final reminder…‘NEVER TRY TO GO UP OR DOWN PIERS GILL ITSELF.’