Date: 23-Nov-2010
Map: Landranger 90
Weather: Cold, with some sunshine, cloudy on top & snow on
the ground
From the farm at Seathwaite along to
Stockley Bridge and up to Seathwaite Fell. Along to
Sprinkling Tarn and up to Esk Hause. Up to Great End and
return via Styhead Tarn to Seathwaite :
9.3
miles as measured on memory map.
I drove up to
the Lakes to have a quiet sort of day before meeting up with
some friends tomorrow. I decided to stay overnight and tick
off another 2 Wainwrights in leisurely fashion. It was going
to be one, but you know how it is and I got a little carried
away, but still finished in good time. I've walked up
to Scafell Pike along this route before, so knew of the
route from Seathwaite along to Stockley Bridge and beyond.
There was plenty of free parking room at Seathwaite, and as
I got booted up I could see it was going to be a mixed bag
for the weather today. I walked up through the farm and had
a nice gentle ascent to Stockley Bridge, where I snuck down
to the beck to try and get a good snap of the old bridge. I
nearly snapped myself as I took a big tumble off a greasy
rock - luckily avoiding the beck and landing on the meaty
part of my shoulder and back pack with my camera safely
pointing skywards - talk about backsack and crack! It hurt a
little later on but I still managed to raise a pint or two.
After the bridge the path ascends a little steeper up
besides Taylorforce Gill waterfall which was running quite
heavey after all the rain we have had recently. The path is
nicely stepped and I soon made progress to slightly easier
ground where I decided to cut up higher to Seathwaite Fell.
beautiful
morning light at Rosthwaite- shame about the mark on the
sensor
Seathwaite Fell
is the centre of the picture
Stockley
Bridge
looking back
down Seathwaite
my route up to
the summit of Seathwaite Fell
the view
down Seathwaite to the Borrowdale Fells, Blencathra in the
distance
It was steep up to the summit, but you get there a lot
quicker, and a faint path beside a gully soon had me up
towards the top, with Great Gable prominent whenever I
stopped for a breathe. I was trying out my new winter gear today - Paramo Velez smock and cascada pants - I was impressed as it
sucked the sweat away from my merino base layer and kept me
warm despite being close to zero, the lack of wind helped.
There are impressive views from the summit and some nice
geology to look at - some volcaniclastic sandstone and
Andesite as well as some Breccia - that all looked good on a
photo of the surrounding fells. The views were a bit
obscured to the bigger peaks as they were just into the
cloud base, but the view up Borrowdale was fantastic. There
are several cairn tops along the Seathwaite Fell, with lots
of small tarns for reflective pictures, except today they
were mostly frozen, except for the biggest one. I worked my
way to the south west, winding around icy waters and boggy
bits, but the sun was shining and it was turning out to be a
fine day. Great Gable continued to be free of cloud, but
Great End was mostly just in the cloud base - funny how
localized the weather can be up here - many times I've been
up on one ridge while it's next door neighbour has been
completely covered in cloud and mist. Luck of the draw I
guess.
a blurry walker
ascends the steeper slopes of Seathwaite Fell
the glorious
view looking north to Derwent Water
the summit
cairn
looking back
to the summit cairn on Seathwaite Fell
one of the many
small tarns
Great Gable
almost cloud free
Great End
reflected in Sprinkling Tarn
I had made good time up here and wasn't in a rush so I
thought I'd wander up to Esk Hause and see how it was with
regard to the snow and ice. I had two big ones left on the
Scafell range, one of them being Great End. I arrived at
Sprinkling Tarn, peaceful and unfrozen, studied Great End
and decided it was easily do-able from here. I walked over
to the main path up from Styhead and set about climbing up
the icy terrain. It was very slippy in places so I got out
the walking stick for some support and to use as a brake
should I need it. - the crampons were in the car and
although they would have helped me progress they weren't
essential. I met a few people coming down from Scafell Pike,
who said they were in and out of cloud all morning, so I had
a 50% chance of a view from the summit. Following them were
a party of French walkers who asked me what this mountain
was called -
‘Excuse me monsieur, what is this mountain called?’
‘its called Great End, Madame’
‘oh merde, where is Scafell Pike’
‘it’s two mountain tops along, the one with all the
shelters’
‘double merde, don’t tell anyone’
A great comedy moment for me and I had a good chuckle at
that. I set course up a snowy slope, gingerly stepping in
previous footsteps now frozen - mostly firm but I
occasionally disappeared up to the knee - but generally it
was ok and I didn't risk many slips and trips. The views
were enticing when I could see them with Esk Pike and the
Langdales in and out of sight, and all the bigger boys were
wearing cloud caps.
disappearing up
into the clouds on my way to Esk Hause
a little
more snow on the higher ground
Esk Pike with
Bowfell, Crinkly Crags behind and Hard Knott, Harter Fell in
the distance
the icy summit
of Great End
a brief glimpse
over the valley to Base Brown
back down
passing the cross shelter
it was
left here for the return route
I paused for refreshments by a large stone cairn and
redirected a couple looking for the Langdales - I envied
them their journey today which was up over Scafell Pike from
Wasdale and down to the New Dungheon Ghyll in Langdale. Then
it was on towards higher ground, gently ascending up the
snowy path. On the higher ground the snow was a little more
powdery as it hadn't thawed like the lower slopes. A cross
shelter to my right showed that there was a route up to the
toptowards Great End. So I veered off to my right and
followed more footprints in the snow, up into more cloud. I
was concentrating on my footing so didn't really notice the
work done to get up to Great End, and as the cloud got
thicker I took some compass headings from my Satmap GPS and
headed off towards the top of Great End. You'd have to be
very careful not to stray too far off the summit as there
are steep crags up here. The summit shelter had a deep crust
of icy snow crystals blown in on the prevailing wind, and I
didn't have much of a view except for an occasional glimpse
of the valley below towards Wasdale and Great Gable. I
stayed around for a little time hoping that I would get a
brief moment of clarity, but it didn't arrive. It was cold
enough so I about turned and descended back the way I had
arrived - easily following my own footprints as they were
the only ones up here today. The descent was easier too as I
could dig my heels in to avoid any slipping down the snowy
slopes, and I didn't have any mishaps. Eventually I dropped
below the clouds and had views down to the coast and the
Langdales before turning back towards Seathwaite Fell and
Great Gable. The path now was the same I came up on and I
successfully got down to Styhead Tarn , the sun now dropping
behind the big fells - it's surprising how dim it gets down
in the shady side. I passed by a tent pitched along the end
of Styhead Tarn and shivered at the thought of a night spent
under canvas in this cold. The big boys were still cloud
covered as I made my way back down to Stockley Bridge and on
to Seathwaite Farm - a nice little warmer for tomorrow and a
fine night spent in the Scafell Hotel in Rosthwaite - I'm
getting a taste for the 'Jennings Cumberland Ale' now -
cheers.
the view up to
Ill Crag and the coast
time to go down
- Glaramara is the big one on the right
turning towards
Great Gable once more
Styhead Tarn and beyond is the route
back down to Seathwaite
Where now:
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