Great End and a great end - Photo Gallery
I had stayed in Keswick on Friday night to meet friends and plan a route worthy of the weather forecast but woke up to a grey day. By the time we arrived at Seathwaite there was still mist on the tops and definitely no need to carry either sun hat or Factor 15 sun block although it was soon warm enough to be in tee shirts only.
There were already plenty of cars parked by the side of the road close to Seathwaite Farm, it wasn't that long ago when I was the first one there. We walked through the arch underneath the farm buildings and across the footbridge over the young River Derwent. We should have gone through the gate immediately on the left but in my enthusiasm I led the team over the shallow ladder stile to the other side of the wall.
Once I remembered where I was supposed to be going we headed left over wet ground and the remnants of recently felled trees until we joined the proper path. The path was as wet as it usually is, it never really dries out and the debris of felled trees only adds to the interest. It is a much nicer route than the wide track on the other side of the river but there are many people over there.
The reason for taking this rough wet path appears suddenly as you go round a bend. Taylorgill Force is a spectacular waterfall and the rocky scramble upwards to get around it is interesting without being too difficult but you do need to take care. Once past the waterfall you wouldn't realise it was there, it just disappears from sight.
Once past Taylorgill Force the gradient eases as you walk alongside Styhead Gill, you should cross the stream after a large rocky waterslide to avoid the wettest section of the path. The easy walk to Styhead Pass is very busy, as we passed the tranquil Styhead Tarn we could see that the hills of the Scafell group were all buried in mist.
From the stretcher box at Styhead Pass there are two main routes, the more adventurous taking the Corridor Route, the others going to Esk Hause probably because the path looks broader on the map. We walked in the direction of Sprinkling Tarn, past the turn off for the Corridor Route to a place where it looked possible to get onto the ridge towards The Band on Great End.
I managed to not start climbing too soon but did so before reaching a recognisable path. However, a couple of walkers who had begun to climb further ahead reached a cairn shortly before we did, there were signs of a foot path for a while. The faint path zigzags up the steep fellside but soon fades and you have to find your own way upwards, there are signs if you know where to look of which way to go.
When we reached the summit of The Band there wasn't much incentive to climb to the viewpoint cairn because there still wasn't much of a view. After the steep grassy climb you realise that it wasn't steep after all, it is the way ahead that is steep. Up and up over steep bouldery and grassy ground, there are a couple of specially interesting rocky sections to get over. The wetness of the rocks does add some difficulty and I am told that long legs make it look easier than it is.
By this time there was a promise that the mist might be clearing, there were tantalising glimpses of sky and mountains as the mist played games all around us. As height is gained the nature of the hill changes and it becomes much rockier, the final steep climb is over rocks and boulders until you reach the extensive rocky plateau.
On the plateau the mist had gone away and it was a lovely sunny day, on this hill anyway because Scafell Pike and its subsidiaries were still hidden by mist. I have visited the top of Custs Gully before and wanted to photograph it again but I could not find it. All of the several gullies were still full of mist and there was still a small patch of snow at the top of one of them. In one of the gullies the sun behind me made my shadow into a brocken spectre with a rainbow-like glory but the photo I took doesn't do it justice.
The summit of Great End was now bright, sunny and warm and the closer we got to Calf Cove the more the mist seemed to be clearing ahead. The path coming up from Esk Hause was full of people. The lonely walk up to the summit of Great End was familiar to my friends who regularly walk in Scotland but they were quite astounded by the hordes on their way to Scafell Pike.
The easy walk to Calf Cove is followed by hopping over boulders upto the Ill Crag summit plateau and with the conditions now being clear it was worth visiting the rocky summit of Ill Crag. Scafell Pike was still covered in mist as we crossed over the bouldery ground, the rocks here covered in bright yellow/green lichen.
We got back to the path for the descent to Ill Crag col from where we climbed up the rocky path to Broad Crag, the good conditions again being reason enough to visit Broad Crag summit. This summit is different to the surrounding summits, the yellow lichen covered boulders being replaced by larger red coloured rocks at a place that deserves to be called a summit.
As we started to scramble down from the summit the climb to Scafell Pike became visible, the path up from Broad Crag col looking as full as a London Underground escalator. The navigating is easy in the warm and sunny conditions but I like to follow the cairns down to Broad Crag col, they have been my only companions on many occasions.
The crowded path up to Scafell Pike was the closest I have been to being jostled whilst walking in the hills. At the summit the conditions are almost perfect, the sun is strong and warm, the breeze being slightly too cool for comfort but not cool enough to put any more clothing on. The consensus is that it is too early to go home, the walk is too good to end now so we set off downwards to Mickledore.
From the top of Mickledore ridge we scrambled down the badly eroded climbers traverse to the bottom of Lords Rake. I was very tempted to climb up the rake but there really was not enough time for Scafell. There was a walker near the top of the rake, obligingly he made the scramble look suitably difficult. So instead of Scafell we walked down the scree to Hollow Stones and then made a beeline for the path to Lingmell col, trying not to lose any more height than necessary.
There were a couple of complaints that the traverse around Scafell Pike I had described seemed to involve a fair amount of climbing to Lingmell col. I got my head down and walked but gained more height than was necessary and missed the cairn that shows where to turn off for the col and when we eventually turned left we had a high traverse through boulders. When I saw the path below we were able to make a steep descent over grass between boulders down to the Corridor route.
Now on the Corridor Route the hard work was done, the streams were dry and the waterfall at the top of Piers Gill was no more than a trickle. Great Gable was now filling the view, as beautiful and as rugged as usual.
The Corridor Route has its moments but is really quite friendly in good weather, once you reach Syhead Pass again the walking is even easier in dry conditions. We got back to Seathwaite almost ten hours after we left it, a reasonable walk even by Scotland standards and I should have taken my hat and the sun block.
Andy Wallace 24th April 2004