Jeannie and Bob's Great day out - Taylorgill Force and Great End in my January 2003 album
Having lain awake all night listenening to the rain hammering against the window my expectations of the weather for today's walk were realistic. However, when I met Jeannie and Bob, a couple of fellow Mixed Routes club members, at Seathwaite the conditions were clear and not too cold. There was a tremendous amount of water pouring off the fells as a result of the overnight rain, the waterfalls of Sour Milk Gill pouring down from the hanging valley of Gillerthwaite looked fantastic.
From Seathwaite we walked under the arch in the farm buildings and crossed to the other side of Styhead Gill and followed the very wet path alongside the gill until the point at which the waterfall of Taylorgill Force suddenly reveals itself. This is one of the special places, the falls being in view as you make the excellent little scramble over rocks. After passing an unexpected conifer plantation you are in the higher valley of Styhead Gill, full of white water thundering over the rocky cascades. There was one particular stream to cross that exceeded the length of Jeannie's short legs, the front page of www.mixedroutes.org.uk shows the same team practising their technique.
There is an easy, if rather wet, walk to Styhead Tarn where Jeannie and Bob decided not to pitch their tent because it was rather too windy for a non-winter tent. When we arrived at the Stretcher Box at the top of Styhead Pass there were several parties of walkers making final checks with maps and compasses. We set off along the path towards Sprinkling Tarn, climbing at first but when the gradient eased we set off over pathless grass on the right to get onto the bottom of the ridge leading up to The Band. We soon met the real path, it wasn't very obvious but we followed its zigzag course through the slippery rocks, occasionally having to step over them.
As you gain height quickly, the views from Great End are unexpectedly good, changing views of the Gables and Styhead Tarn and especially good views of Sprinkling Tarn and the length of Seathwaite Fell, littered with small tarns. Near the cairn marking the top of The Band you can look down into the declivity of Skew Gill, I can't believe that I climbed up it last year. The top of The Band provides a splendid viewing platform downwards and upwards towards the formidable looking Great End.
There are signs of a footpath to aim for at the start of the next section of the climb, looking upwards is a “marker post” or broom handle stuck in the ground. At this point there is a narrow rock chimney to scramble up, there are slightly easier diversion but they all involve handling of rocks and large steps unsuited to short legs. The climb gets steeper as you get higher and grass is replaced by boulders and a good view is replaced by cold, dense mist.
The summit plateau is wide and flat and featureless, we made our way over to the summit in an increasingly cold wind, there was one small patch of snow there and I had to make footprints in it on behalf of people who couldn't be there. After taking a compass bearing and heading off the summit in the wrong direction, the Esk Hause path came into view for a second. After continuing in the wrong direction the path came into view again, disorientation creeps up unexpectedly even to the best of us, it was good to be able to see where we were going and we joined the Esk Hause highway to Ill Crag and soon disappeared into the mist again.
Over the flat top of Ill Crag, down to the small col that separates it from Broad Crag, and then follow the well cairned but still confusing path to near to the summit of Broad Crag. Today was not the day to visit the summits of Ill Crag and Broad Crag but everybody should visit these lonely tops occasionally. Down to Broad Crag col before starting the final steep pull up to the summit of Scafell Pike, just as busy as ever despite the conditions.
The walk down to Lingmell Col was the coldest part of the day, the biting wind with its severe chill factor was very chilly, fingers numb in spite of two pairs of gloves. At the col Jeannie and Bob went on their way to Wasdale Head as I made my way along the Corridor Route, hands warming rapidly and painfully as I got out of the wind. The Corridor Route is a fine high level route, reasonably easy but with a couple of tricky sections that can cause problems if you are unfamiliar with them, especially at one point where you have to make an unlikely scramble upwards instead of a following a more natural looking path downwards.
The path down leads to difficulty and Lingmell Beck, not a mistake I made more than once. The real path takes you back to Styhead Tarn for a straightforward walk after crossing Styhead Gill at the footbridge down to Stockley Bridge and back to Seathwaite.
Great End – great day out on a much neglected fell.
Andy Wallace 25th January 2003
Mixed Routes is a virtual club comprised of members based throughout UK with a mix of outdoor related interests, if you want to find out more about the club visit http://www.mixedroutes.org.uk We originally met through our membership of the internet magazine www.outdoorsmagic.com that has a forum where informed and relevant discussion quickly deteriorates into meaningless but humorous banter.