Another successful day climbing England's tallest today, Scafell Pike.
I was joined today by Gill and Phil who were fairly new to hillwalking, and after their ascents of Wales's tallest, Snowdon, they thought they would come and tick off Scafell Pike. The sky looked misty and the drizzle was about to come down but with determination we cracked on to Stockley Bridge. The large amounts of rain that had fallen overnight was teeming off the fell side and Grains Gill was looking very full! We followed the path across to Styhead Gill and made our way to Styhead Tarn. Unfortunately at this point we were well within the cloud so could not see the views. It was also here at the stretcher box where we had seen our first walkers of the day, and what we thought until later on the last! We followed the corridor route at a great pace and were soon on the slopes of Scafell Pike, facing the final ascent. I was still amazed at this point that we had not seen anyone else on the mountain, and it continued to stay this way. We summited, and after a quick photo headed for our little lunching shelter. We made our way off of Scafell Pike and across Broad Crag, and finally we saw some other walkers. However the walkers kept on coming, as though there had been a traffic jam! About a dozen people later we were again alone on a rather desolate looking Ill Crag. We made our way across the final boulder field and followed the path back to Grains Gill. We descended back under the mist and gained some fantastic views back down the valley. A fantastic day!
