581 Miles/ 935 km
Today is peak 2 of 3 day! Time to climb to the highest point in England. The weather looked good this morning, a lot of cloud, maybe some sunshine, but no rain and the wind didnt look too bad either. I was much more excited about today than I was about climbing Snowdon!
First things first… fun facts about Scafell pike!!
- Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England measuring 978m (3,209 ft) high.
- Panoramic views from the top (on a clear day) enable you to see peaks as far away as Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man
- It’s original name was The Pikes of Sca Fell: The change was made by a mistake in the Ordnance Survey map and then the name stuck!
- It is home to Englands highest standing water, known as Broad Crag Tarn. It lies at 850m, just a quarter mile south of the summit.
- There are four main Scafell Pike routes: Wasdale, Langdale, Eskdale and Borrowdale.
Today was a late start. I knew I had all day to do the hike, and I was only staying 8 miles away tonight in a hostel in Windermere! Last night i had realised an error in my planning… I was nowhere near the trail head for the hike! Luckily the 4 routes up the mountain are scattered amongst the district. I would have like to hike from the more ‘popular’ trail head, which was shorter and apprently more scenic at Wasdale, but this would have meant a 3.5 hour bike ride, or a 1.5 hour bus ride. Neither or them I wanted. So My only choice was to start at Great Langdale – a 45 minute hilly ride to start the hike. I was a little bummed about this as I knew that would mean needing more energy before AND after the hike.
The hike from Great Langdale is the longest of the 4 main routes up the mountain. Totalling 14 miles and still with an elevation of over 1000m.
“Im not scared of climbing
mountains. I’m scared that I cant make them move”
I set out from the hostel at 10am, biked to the Old Dungeon Ghyll where I parked my bike up. The ride there was okay, and with a bike with nothing loaded on it, it actually made for a pleasant ride. Once at the trail head I started the very flat walk… For the first 2.5 miles it was flat and boring just walking through the Mickledon valley to get to the first incline. I then head up the South West side of Rossett Gill towards Esk House. The trail then headed west towards Scafell pike through Calf Cove, III Crag and Broad Crag. I didnt get a view of the top until Broad Craig where the cloud quickly cleared and I could see the top cairn!
The hike up was really nice, the path was well marked out, the incline was mostly steady uphill, and the views were pretty incredible. I was fighting the weather a little with the quick clouds that kept rolling in and the gusts of winds. But I was dry so I was pretty happy.
Once hitting the lake ‘Angle Tarn’ was when I really saw the black cloud rolling in over the summit, but it was moving quickly so I figured it would come and go, which it did, turning into thick white cloud instead! Here I met a few people who decided to turn around and head back, but I knew I had to make it to the top.. and Im glad I did. The rest of the hike up was okay, a little cold but the views were still wonderful. The summit itself was a bit of a whiteout. I waited up on the top cairn for 20 minutes hoping the weather would clear for a good view but it didn’t. A little disappointed, but overall the hike was awesome and compared to Snowdon it was so much more manageable and enjoyable despite the weather!
When I got down to the bottom I learnt that last month (September) this valley had seen 22 rainy days.. So really to get a dry day was pretty lucky. I’ll take clouds and wind over rain and wind anyway!
Learning from my mistakes with the last mountain, I decided to take the EXACT route back. No detours, no being a smart ass, no shortcuts. Grateful I took more notice of markers, and so so so grateful for who ever made the cairns leading to the summit – which were a lifesaver on the way down. There was no way to make it down the right way with all the cloud at the top otherwise! After getting out of the clouds, the hike was easy on the way down albeit very wet. My ankle was really starting to give me pain, and I wasn’t looking forward to the 6 miles down. Normally Id jog/run down the mountain, but I was lucky enough my ankle held out enough to just hike. It took me as long to get down as it did to get up. A little frustrated for it to take me so long to get back down, I get back to the bike at 5pm, and straight on it to get back to Grasmere before dark!
Back at the hostel by 6, I decided not to take my bike back to Windermere (I was planning on a 8 mile ride back to another hostel for the night to come back here in the morning – annoyingly this hostel was booked out to a group tonight so I couldn’t stay here) Anyway I opted for the bus… a £7.50 ride for 20 mins… seemed a bit expensive, but my ankle was grateful. so was the rest of my tired body.
In Winderere for the night, heading back to Grasmere in the morning to grab my bike and gear and head to Carlisle! Ill be hitting Scotland the next day!!
Peace Out. x
