Route: Scafell Pike
Area: Southern Lake District
Date of walk: 4th June 2015
Walkers: Andrew Gilly and Fiona
Distance: 10.2 miles
Weather: Mostly sunny
My sister Fiona was about to reach her 60th birthday and she still hadn’t climbed a lakeland fell. I decided that it was time to rectify this and so on the day before the walk Gilly and I ‘kidnapped’ her from her home in East Yorkshire and brought her over to the Lake District
Next morning, with Fiona having no idea of what lay ahead, we set off from Seathwaite and began the steady but very long climb up to Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route. Although Fiona realised after a while that we were going ‘somewhere bloody high’ it wasn’t until we were just before the summit that it dawned on her that our destination was to be Scafell Pike – the highest ground in England. Ignorance is bliss
After a quick picnic and champagne celebration on the summit we descended to Esk Hause and from there back to Seathwaite
We were fortunate in being blessed with good weather – plenty of sunshine and a cooling breeze – and this contributed to a red letter day amongst some of the most awesome scenery in Lakeland
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Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
Start of the walk as we pass through the farmyard of Seathwaite Farm
Gilly and Fiona stride out towards Seathwaite Fell
Looking up the valley - our initial ascent route lies to the right of Seathwaite Fell and we shall return via the path on the left
We cross Stockley Bridge
Looking back down the valley from the bridge
The lower slopes of Glaramara on the other side of the valley
Beautiful Borrowdale (I’ve since had a lot of flak from my fellow walkers for this caption)
Our objective comes into view as we walk beside Styhead Gill
Crossing the gill - Scafell Pike is the one above Gilly’s head
Styhead Gill
Styhead Tarn, with Great End and Scafell Pike beyond
Climbing above the tarn
The stretcher box at Sty Head
Just beyond Sty Head we take the Corridor Route, slanting up from the bottom left of the picture
Wasdale comes into view
Looking back along the Corridor Route
Great Gable
The tremendous chasm of Piers Gill on the face of Lingmell
Fiona has never walked in terrain like this before - but she’s enjoying every minute
She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes tra la la…
Onwards and upwards
Great Gable
Sellafield and the Irish Sea
Derwent Water in the distance
The final stony section leading to the summit of Scafell Pike
Made it! Well done sis
The summit of the fell was given to the National Trust by Lord Leconfield in memory of the men who fell in World War 1
Wast Water from the summit - the long distance views were rather hazy today
We start the long descent
The path to Esk Hause
At the foot of Great End we branch off to the right to follow the path back down the valley to Seathwaite
Looking back to the imposing north face of Great End
Almost down to valley level
A last lingering look back to the fells as we return to the start through Seathwaite Farm
Back home, it was supper time for this red squirrel…
And it was supper time for us too at the nearby Kirkstile Inn - a perfect way to round off a perfect day
