Easter Saturday we decided to make the most
of the spell of clear weather to climb Scafell Pike, the highest peak in
England. Given the beautiful weather, we were joined by almost everyone else in England, many of whom brought
their dogs along for the trek.
Although
it was a lovely clear day we took our packs with coats etc as practice for our
up coming Coast to Coast walk and, less than 24 hours after arriving in England,
began the climb. The route from Wasdale
Head is very rocky, the path a mix of natural rocky path and man-made rocky
path, so not a pleasant walk on the feet.
The cliff face of Mickledore looms above as Elaine ascends the rocky path.
There was a pleasant view back over Wast Water.
At a fork in the track, we took the classic route on the right
path under the cliff face of Mickledore to a scramble up a scree of loose rock called Lords Rake. At
times it felt as if you would cause an avalanche of rock onto those coming up
behind.
As we struggled up this narrow
cleft in the cliff face, two children about 8 years old just zoomed past us
wondering why the adults were finding the going so difficult. In the photo to the right, the scree lies in the cleft immediately below where the two people are standing on the ridge.
Elaine scrambles up Lord's Rake
From here on, it was a less steep climb to
the top over boulders towards the summit.
The dogs making the climb didn't seem to be troubled by the rocks.
Near the summit
on the east face there were still a few patches of icy snow.
The
panoramic view from the top is great.
On reaching the summit we climbed onto the large cairn at
the top for an obligatory photo.
We found a soft patch of ground along the
north face to sit and eat lunch with fabulous views over Styhead Tarn to
Derwentwater.
Then it was time for the
jarring trek down the rocky path. Here we discovered that on the ascent, we had
taken the more difficult of the two alternative routes to the summit. At least it was a bit of an adventure.
On the way down we enjoyed the views across Wast Water and out to the coast.
This was the most difficult climb we have done, more difficult than our climb of Mount Snowdon which is actually higher, perhaps because it was less than 24 hours after landing in England.
Now we
need a recovery day – already!
