Great End

To avoid the crowds, we'd set off early from Seathwaite. We walked the familiar path up to Stockley Bridge and then headed left up the path following Grains Gill. Some cows were strolling around the path, and this spooked Calse a bit, but they were more interested in their breakfast than in us. The benefit of this path is that we could see our first Wainwright of the day right at the end of the valley. The huge cliff face of Great End beckoned us towards it. A skein of geese flew overhead, heading southwards. They were surprisingly noisy given their height above us.  I'd love to know what they are saying to each other as they fly along. 'We need to be over to the left.' 'No, I'm sure it's over to the right.' 'Don't be stupid, it's straight on, I can see Blackpool Tower ahead'.

Some sheep started running towards us as we approached Esk Hause. Something had really spooked them on the Eskdale side since they usually run away from us, rather than towards us. We could see a man with a sheep dog near the path to Allan Crags; I wondered if they were being rounded up from Eskdale to be sent over to Seathwaite. We never did find what had spooked them.

A large crow sat on the summit cairn of Great End. I could see it get increasingly agitated to the extent that it had a crap, as we heard a fighter jet approach. The crow watched the jet fly over Allan Crags, gave a croak and then flew off in disgust.

Scafell Pike Plateau

The area between Great End and Scafell Pike is a high, rocky plateau. It can be a challenging place in bad weather. I remember walking today's route as a youngster with my dad. Captaincy had been delegated to me; my dad was more of a cairn follower than a navigator. On the way up to Esk Hause he announced that the sole had fallen off one of his boots. He was basically walking on in his insole. I looked at the map and said Scafell Pike's is just a bit further up, and we could just go up and come back down. That was the probably the most stupid thing I'd ever suggested, but I know a lot of people would disagree with that. My dad agreed and we continued on. In reality we were only about a third of the way into the walk. On Scafell Pike it was thick mist, and I took a bearing to get us on to the Corridor route. I was new to compass work and got my compass needle colours mixed up and we started setting off 180 degrees in the wrong direction towards Rough Crag. Eventually I realised my mistake and we returned over Scafell Pike's top and found the Corridor route. By this time my dad was using crisp packets, gloves and hats to cushion his soleless boot. By some miracle we made our way back to Seathwaite.

Another epic was when I was up on the plateau with Shirko, in atrocious weather. Shirko was doing the navigating and somehow in the bad visibility we lost each other. I'd not brought my own maps, didn't have a gps, and only had a compass. Fortunately, I was able to find my way to Esk Hause from my memory of the area and use of the compass. Amazingly, on the way back to Wasdale from Styhead Tarn, we both dropped out of the rain and mist almost at the same time; we couldn't have actually been that far away from each other during out descent. Ever since, I have always taken my own maps, irrespective of who is navigating.

Scafell Pike And Lingmell

The summit of Scafell Pike was packed with people when we arrived. We squeezed ourselves on to the summit platform and took our photos. For a moment I was the highest person in England; well, me and about eight other people. A bare-chested man was also on the platform, which I thought was rather brave given the fresh conditions. A steady stream of people was making their way up from the Corridor Route and we headed down towards them. The path is quite rocky, and I slipped at one point and managed to stand on the end of one of my trekking poles. It was now bent like a Premiership footballer's leg. I tried to bend it back by wedging the end between two rocks and bending back on the stick, but from past experience, they are never the same again.

It was a relief to lose the hordes trooping up from Wasdale and we headed up to the summit of Lingmell. There are tremendous views from Lingmell. You can look down into the fearsome Piers Gill, look across to the massive lump of Great Gable, or look down the valley for a superb view of Wast Water. Take your pick. Wainwright reckons there was a 10 ft cairn on the top of Lingmell. It must have collapsed, since the summit cairn is only about 4 ft now. We sat down to eat lunch, during which time I successfully worried Calse by pointing out the scrambly bits on Yewbarrow, a Wainwright that we still had to do.

Corridor Route

After lunch, we followed the Corridor route to Styhead Tarn. It is an impressive route that contours alongside the hillside. It passes the start of the deep chasm that is Piers Gill. I'm surprised that Mountain Rescue say that they rescue people from there. It doesn't seem an obvious escape route from the mountain. Further along the Corridor there is a hands-on scrambly section to get over a rocky outcrop. It is an easy and simple scramble but may feel a little exposed to some people. The Corridor eventually delivered us to the top of Styhead Pass. One end of the mighty Great End's cliff face terminates around here. It was hard to believe we stood on the top of that a couple of hours ago. Wainwright reflected on how Great End motivated fellwalkers: 'It is not the pretty places, the flowery lanes of Grasmere or Derwent's wooded bays, that keep him restless in his bed; it is the magnificent ones. Places like Great End.'

We were beaten to Stockley Bridge by a large group from a Cockermouth walking club. They had been up to Styhead Tarn, then over to Sprinkling Tarn and had come down by Grains Gill, by the path we had gone up this morning. They formed a human chain across the path and so we were forced to return to Seathwaite at their pace.

It had been a glorious day. The views were remarkable. I've added one more to my Scafell Pike summit count...whatever that might be.