Date & Time: Wednesday 9th April 2008. 9.30am start.

Location of Start : Seathwaite Farm road side parking, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 143 211 )

Places visited : Seathwaite, Grains Gill, Great End, Ill Crag, Broad Crag, Scafell Pike, Lingmell Col, Piers Gill (top part only) Corridor Route (off track some times) and back via Styhead and Taylor Gill Force.

Walk details : 8.5 mls, 1040m ( 3400 ft) of ascent, 6 hrs.

Highest point : Scafell Pike 978m ( 3210 ft)

Walked with : Myself.

Weather : Great visibility, some snow, crisp winter weather.

My guest author for today - Mr Nick Pease from Swansea

Self portrait taken on a wintery Grisedale Pike a few days before.

 

This has been my second visit to lakeland, it seemed to me that Scafell Pike

was a "must be climbed" mountain considering the incredible conditions of the day . . . great visibility, some snow and crisp winter conditions.

This is the beginning of the day's journey, the track from Seathwaite farm towards Stockley Bridge.

After a burst of energy up the man-made steps, I took a moment to check my progress and appreciate the view back towards Derwent Water

A potential climb maybe ...?

Great End from the top of Grains Gill.

Great and Green Gable from near Esk Hause.

A picture of Skiddaw in the distance, previously climbed on my last visit to the Lakes.

Reached the cross-roads, time for the first summit of the day, but I'm not going to climb Esk-Pike today !

Instead I turn right and climb the snowy slopes to Great End.

In the distance is Ill Crag, Broad Crag and Scafell Pike which will follow this first climb.

Sprinkling Tarn from Great End.

Lunch time ...enjoying the views down the valley plus checking out the chosen decent to be undertaken after reaching the highest point in England!

A good viewpoint of Ruddy Gill.

Some beautiful views opened up again after a short spell of snow.

Top end of Ruddy Gill looking towards Langdale.

Looking West towards Lingmell and beyond ...saved for another day!

Some more beautiful views from Great End.

Great Gable looking all the way across to Grasmoor and the North Western Fells in the distance.

The summit in sight at last, not far to travel now !!

A little zoom and a big crowd of people !!

An RAF helicopter rescue team presumably out on training

circled Scafell Pike a few times as I watched.

A nice viewing point of the Great Gable, this time from just before the summit of Scafell Pike.

Enjoying the sight of Esk Pike, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags, with Windermere in the distance.

The view south west, taken from the summit cairn.

Clear visibility today ...what more can you ask for!

A fantastic sea view, a shame about the looming precipitation

A picture of Scafell from the summit of Scafell Pike

From here I dropped down towards Lingmell to traverse back to Sty Head by the Corridor Route.

I didn't choose the recognised path but enjoyed some scrambling in the upper section of Piers Gill ravine, across loose rock, snow and grass.

This sight of this frozen tarn and level ground was very much appreciated

A picture of the Corridor Route taken after deciding to leave the beaten track

I didn't deliberately follow the paths in order to make the route more adventurous and to practice my Mountain Leader skills.

There were few pictures from here on due to running short of space on the camera. However I did manage this shot of Taylor Gill Force.

What a sight to end the day !!!

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with Nick's Digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a para glider next time ?

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Previous walk - 7th April 2008 Back O' Skiddaw with the Hush Puppies

Ed note : Nick has been staying for the week in order to practice his mountain skills and help gain his Mountain Leader Certificate. He has managed a great week of surprisingly wintery weather over this late Easter, and his climbs have included Grisedale Pike and Hopegill Head, The Loweswater Fells, the back of Skiddaw fells, this Scafell Pike walk and maybe more tomorrow. Not a bad week for experiences !