Scafell Pike
DATE 10.12.2011 | DISTANCE 12KM | HIGHEST POINT 978M
Posted by Matt | Filed under lake district
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OUR LITTLE EXPEDITION WAS INCREASED BY 3 LAST NIGHT AFTER OUR WALK ABOVE NEWLANDS (SEE HERE) WITH THE ARRIVAL OF ANDY, BEN AND GEORDIE to OUR LAKELAND RETREAT. IT WAS GOOD TO SEE BEN AGAIN AS I HADN'T SEEN HIM SINCE THE EVEREST TREK LAST YEAR.
TODAY'S ROUTE WAS A BIT OF A CLASSIC! A DAY OF UNSETTLED WEATHER is ONE OF THE BETTER TIMES TO VISIT SCAFELL PIKE.. THUS ELIMINATING THE CROWDS. ALTHOUGH WE GOT A LITTLE MORE SNOW THAN EXPECTED.
OUR ASCENT ROUTE WAS UP STYHEAD GILL AND ALONG THE CORRIDOR ROUTE. I WANTED TO MIX THINGS UP A LITTLE FROM SEATHWAITE FARM AS I USUALLY GO UP GRAINS GILL. THE JOURNEY TOWARDS STYHEAD TARN WAS A REAL ANKLE TWISTER. BOULDER STREWN AND ICY WITH PLENTY OF BOGGY PATCHES, IT REQUIRED ALL OF OUR CONCENTRATION.
REACHING THE SNOWSCAPE VIEWS ACROSS TO GREAT END, BROAD CRAG AND LINGMELL FELL, IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE THE ASCENT LINE THROUGH ALL THE WHITE STUFF. THE GANG WERE ALL NEW TO THE CORRIDOR ROUTE AND A LITTLE UNSURE OF WHERE I WAS LEADING THEM. ONCE WE FOUND THE TRACK BELOW GREAT END, THE ROUTE AHEAD BECAME CLEARER. THERE WAS A FEW MOMENTS OF UNCERTAINTY DUE TO THE TRACK BEING BURIED AND AT ONE POINT WE FOUND OURSELVES BRIEFLY IN A PRECARIOUS POSITION. ALL EVENTUALLY BECAME CLEAR AGAIN AND WE PUSHED ON BELOW BROAD CRAG. IT WAS HERE THAT THINGS BECAME MORE DIFFICULT. THE SNOW WAS EXTREMELY DEEP, SOMETIMES CAUSING US TO STUMBLE FORWARD AND HAVE TO ALMOST SWIM OUT OF IT. NOT ONLY DID THIS BECOME FRUSTRATING BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY IT WAS DRAINING. A FRIENDLY COUPLE FROM STOKE ASKED TO JOIN US FOR THE FINAL 250 METRE PUSH. THEY WERE PART OF ANOTHER GROUP THAT HAD BEEN BEHIND US MOST OF THE DAY. THE REST OF THEIR PARTY HAD DECIDED TO THROW IN THE TOWEL BUT mARK AND JANE WERE STILL KEEN TO REACH THE SUMMIT.
FROM HERE ON, VISIBILITY DROPPED TO WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS AND FELT A LOT COLDER AS WE FOLLOWED THE CAIRNS TO THE TOP. INFACT, IT WAS SO COLD THAT WE DIDN'T SPEND VERY LONG AT ALL ON THE SUMMIT.
OUR NEW FRIENDS REmaINED WITH US FOR THE RETURN JOURNEY WHICH TOOK US BACK INTO DEEP SNOW. IT WAS SO DEEP THAT THE BOULDER FIELDS BETWEEN BROAD CRAG AND GREAT END WERE BURIED. WE CONTINUED TO WADE our way DOWN THE SLOPES OF ESK HAUSE AND FINALLY COMPLETED THE DESCENT ALONGSIDE GRAINS GILL WHICH WAS VERY SLOW DUE TO THE ICY ROCK PATH. AS WE REACHED SEATHWAITE FARM WE USED THE VALUABLE LAST MOMENTS OF DAYLIGHT TO SEPERATE INTO OUR CARS AND SAID OUR GOODBYES.
lEAVING SEATHWAITE FARM.
SEATHWAITE FELL AHEAD AND THE CHOICE TO GO LEFT, RIGHT OR OVER. WE CHOSE RIGHT.
taylorgill force
friends on stockley bridge. seathwaite fell behind
cutting around greenhow knott
following styhead gill
andy, geordie, ben, alan, andrew and mark
upping the layers at styhead tarn
stretcher box with lingmell in the distance
the corridor route. its somewhere in those snowy cliffs
wasdale head below and great gable to the right
a similar shot. great gable's summit is almost clear
a section of the corridor route that in summer is clear to follow, but in snow isn't!
geordie can be seen here making his way around to us. he found himself in a nasty place whilst looking for the path and nearly slipped off the side. be warned!
passing up the side of piers gill
looking down piers gill. an epic ravine!
after an exhausting stint through very deep snow we finally made it to the summit.
alan and andy on the very top
all of us enjoying lunch. not for long though as it didnt take long at all for the cold to set in.
alan shileding himself during a particularly harsh blizzard
descending esk hause
we met mark and jane early on during the summit push and they stayed with us to the end.
they were very pleased with themselves and rightly so. nice to meet you both. funnily it turned out that mark's brother worked with geordie...small world!
concentration
following down the side of ruddy gill and grains gill back to seathwaite farm at the bottom.
a final stop to absorb the scenery