Happy New Year

[johnbythell]

After not being out for a long while I managed to find a window of good looking weather and headed for the Lakes, early enough to avoid most of the bank holiday crowds and get parked reasonably close to the farm in Seathwaite.

Great End - Glaramara 2 Jan 2023.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

I wasn't sure of the route or the objective, but headed up Grains Gill to start with.

Looking back down the Gill towards Seathwaite. Skiddaw in the background. Shaping up to be a gorgeous day!

Plenty of water in the Gill and wet underfoot but no snow apart from a dusting high up on Great End.

The pool shortly after the footbridge.

The imposing mass of Great End crag, split by Central Gully

Sprinkling Tarn and beautiful clear skies - I decided to stay off the beaten path at the top of the Gill and traversed up right under Great End crag onto the band.

Reaching the col on the band - first views northwest with Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Pillar and Red Pike basking in the sun.

The snow layer here on the north side was thin but a fairly even hard crust at about 800m - beautiful rest stop.

Round the corner was a bit more consolidated crust, steeper and more exposed. Looking back towards Allen Crags.

So I decided it was time to get the microspikes on and even got the ice axe out till the slope eased off and the ground became more broken on the boulder field above. Sprinkling Tarn looking oily black from this angle.

Near the top the breathtaking view to the west opened up, with a clear view of the Isle of Man in the distance behind Lingmell and Wasdale basking in sunshine.

The summit plateau of Great End with Scafell Pike off to the right.

Time to find a quiet spot out of the (very light) wind for lunch behind the summit - positively tropical in the sun.

Not too shabby views along towards Ill Crag and Scafell Pike.

I decided to make the descent via Glaramara, with the first signs of cloud coming in early afternoon - High House Tarn.

Someone had asked me about this route via Hind Gill on the way up, but I couldn't really help as I couldn't ever remember doing it before. This is the start of it. I found out why I'd never done it before though - it is a very steep and unrelenting grass slope for about 300m. On this north side the turf was still frozen so I ended up putting on the microspikes again - well worth the effort.

A pretty glorious weather-window day in the fells, a good way to welcome in the New Year!