Lords Rake and Eskdale to Scafell Pike - Photo Gallery

When I parked at Brackenclose it was dry, although the hills were covered by mist; I set off along the familiar, well-used path by the side of Lingmell Gill. There was plenty of water in the Gill, making it even more awkward than usual to get across to the start of the Brown Tongue path. It is a long slog, it doesn't get any easier no matter how many time I do it; the constructed path has been rebuilt and is probably good enough to descend and prevent the additional erosion caused by walkers avoiding the first attempt.

The new path makes it easy to miss the junction where you have to bear right towards Mickledore, that is obviously the plan to keep people away from the erosion at Mickledore. Having said that, the path up to Hollow Stones is also being rebuilt, as far as the big boulder anyway; the scree ascent up to Mickledore looks worse than ever.

After passing the big boulder, the gradient is easier, and a short way after passing a cairn, there is a group of boulders where I usually sit and rest before the next strenuous section of ascent. Uphill on the right hand side is the scree fan that ascends towards the start of Lords Rake; the erosion is getting worse, a large gully has formed with very loose scree either side of it, the highlight is a very awkward step-up over a moss-covered boulder. The rest of the climb is on scree that is fresh and loose, but easier because it isn't quite as steep; the view at the bottom of Lord's Rake is very unfamiliar.

It wasn't misty but it was cool enough to put my gloves on before attempting to climb up the Rake; it's not the same without starting with a step up over the chockstones, but it's always a hands-on scramble. There was a lot of new loose material, it is usually easier at this time of year after after the new season boulders have moved down to bottom of the rake. The ntrance to the West Wall Traverse gets ever more awkward, even without climbing under the fallen boulder.

The West Wall Traverse is an interesting climb on a high ledge and leads into intimidating but impressive steep-sided crags; Deep Gill seemed to be more eroded than ever but having looked back to my 2007 photos is looks pretty much the same. The strenuous exit from Deep Gill doesn't get any easier, although I have learned how to do it better, it brings you out onto the grassy saddle below Symonds Knott; it had become very misty and cold. I know my way across the saddle even in mist, I joined the cairned path coming up from Foxes Tarn, and followed it up to the summit of Scafell.

The wind seemed to be clearing the mist, and for a minute I could see the summit ridge, the summit of Scafell Pike, and the clouds below me, but the mist returned with a vengeance. The way to navigate this broad ridge is by keeping to the crest, you need to be careful with your route selection above steep crags, but it is generally reliable and safe. The path disappears sometimes but I followed the cairns, not easy to spot them at times, and descended eroded boulders before crossing the broad col towards Slight Side.

I decided to bear right, and find a way to scramble up to the subsidiary rocky summit, and then across a gully to the impressive highest point. I descended, following a different path to normal, but it eventually loops around to join the main path; I found the flat-topped boulder at the side of the path that marks my left turn, and followed the faint path traversing the grassy shoulder of Slight Side.

The path descends slightly but rises to avoid outcrops, and eventually it just disappears; this is the time to descend, on the firmest available ground, to the main Eskdale path. It the past, I have followed the contours to avoid losing height, but you get to a very swampy swamp and you have to lose the height anyway. The main path goes across wet ground, the streams were full after the pouring rain of the previous day; you get out of the wetness after climbing upwards and walking through Sampsons Stones, and return to it on the path towards Cam Spout.

I had been thinking about a route from the top of Cam Spout towards Pen but it didn't really look viable so I decided to walk up Eskdale to its Hause. It had become warm enough for my jacket and gloves to come off by that stage; after walking for a while, I passed the turn-off towards Little Narrowcove, and was beginning to realise that it was taking much longer than I thought, but there are no short cuts so I had to carry on.

The wide valley of Eskdale narrows for the ascent towards Esk Hause, the valley narrows to a steep-sided gorge; I had to keep crossing the stream in order to avoid the crags on either side of it. The steepness eventually gives way to level, boggy ground that leads less steeply but not easily to the Hause. It was still busy with people, there was a cold breeze so my jacket and gloves went back on; one of the people was heading down to Eskdale, looking for Angle Tarn using his 1:50000 map, it was lucky for him that I was able to point him in the right direction.

It is an easy slope up to Calf Cove, followed by a rocky, boulder-hopping ascent to a broad summit plateau; I was into mist again and decided to bypass Ill Crag's summit. I descended to a shallow col, and after a short climb, I followed a line of cairns across the bouldery shoulder of Broad Crag and didn't climb up to the summit. I descended to Broad Crag col, and made the steep 200-metre climb to the summit of Scafell Pike; there were just a few stragglers left at the litter-strewn summit, it must have been a busy day.

I looked at the map to work out the quickest way down to Wasdale, time was getting on; both routes look pretty much the the same so I decided to descend to Lingmell col and follow the tourist path back to Brackenclose. It was much easier than that descent from Mickledore to Hollow Stones; the better reconstruction of the path means that I didn't have to walk by side of it.

It was going dark as I drove across Birker Fell, it's the end of another summer season.

© Andy Wallace 2nd Oct 2010