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A favourite walk - done it many times but never get tired of it.
My friend Stuart and I made the usual early start from Seathwaite Farm. Not enough daylight for a photo of Taylorgill Force in its deep ravine. But in the dawn twilight, the few easy scrambling moves above the chasm put us in the mood for what was to come.
By the time we reached Styhead Tarn there was daylight in the sky: we could sense the rays of the sun on the other side of the Scafell range, even if we were still in shadow. Great End in the centre of this photo and Broad Crag on the right.
We could see our route to Scafell Pike ahead of us, on the flanks of Great End. First Skew Gill, the lower part of which appears as the dark slice on the fellside about two-thirds of the way across the photo. Then Cust's Gully, which can be made out a little to the left-hand side of Great End's domed skyline. Both gullies have the distinction of getting whole sections to themselves in Wainwright's Great End chapter of his "Southern Fells".
IMG_4813 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
We climbed a bit higher, and so did the sun.
Here's the view from near the stretcher-box on the top of the pass, looking back down to the tarn with Blencathra in the distance.
IMG_4814 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Skew Gill cuts straight into the side of Great End like a huge trench. It starts as a stony uphill walk and then turns into an easy scramble.
This route from Seathwaite to the summit of Scafell Pike is my very favourite Lakeland hill walk. The scrambling sections of the route are enclosed in deep, dark ravines. But after each one you come back out into the sunlight - and each time you do, the changed, wider view comes as a surprise.
Best of all, it feels like a secret way up the mountain.
Here's the view from the Gill towards Great Gable: the top cairn and maybe even the Westmorland Cairn are just about visible (well, they are on the Flickr image...)
IMG_4818 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Higher up the Gill - skyline of Seatallan, Yewbarrow, Red Pike, Scoat Fell, the teeniest glimpse of Steeple, and Kirkfell.
IMG_4820 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
The Gill narrows and then suddenly widens out on a shoulder of the fellside. We could see Sprinkling Tarn below.
IMG_4827 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
A short distance up the fellside is the mouth of Cust's Gully, with the famous wedged boulder jammed in the slot.
IMG_4835 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
The view back down Borrowdale from the entrance to the gully, with Skiddaw and Blencathra appearing like bookends beyond Derwentwater.
IMG_4831 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Onwards and upwards -
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Through the tunnel...
IMG_4841 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
The upper section of the gully. I like the Wainwright comment "the wedged boulder supports several stones which can only be at temporary rest. Heaven help anyone who is inside Cust's Gully when they fall off. It won't be the author, anyway:
he's not going there again."
IMG_4846 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Top of the gully: emerging into the sunshine near the west summit of Great End
IMG_4853 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
The scene from the top of Cust's Gully is a contender, I think, for Lakeland's finest hill-top view. I was pleased to get my shadow (or possibly Stuart's) into the shot, and also, in the middle bottom, is the wedged boulder in deep shadow.
The skyline is all Skiddaw Slate: from left to right Wandope, Eel Crag, Sail, Grisedale Pike, Scar Crags, then the Skiddaw group and Blencathra on the far right. Closer at hand on the left are Robinson, Hindscarth, Dale Head and High Spy, then closer still Grey Knotts and then Base Brown, and of course Seathwaite Fell in the foreground and the flanks of Glaramara over to the right.
IMG_4856 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
From Great End we headed towards Scafell Pike, visible here to the right of Ill Crag's prominent top-knot.
IMG_4858 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Looking across upper Eskdale to the Coniston Fells
IMG_4859 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
A wider view down Eskdale, with Bowfell, Wetherlam and the Crinkles to the left.
IMG_4861 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
On Broad Crag, admiring the view across to the Mosedale fells
IMG_4865 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Although it was February, it was warm in the sunshine on the roof of England.
IMG_4872 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Wastwater from the summit, framed by Scafell Crag, Illgill Head and Seatallan and its satellites. Below the crag, Mickledore can be seen catching the sunshine.
IMG_4868 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Looking from the summit across to Mosedale, with a skyline of Haycock, Red Pike, Scoat fell and Steeple, Black Crag, Pillar, Red Pike, High Stile and High Crag.
IMG_4869 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
The Eskdale summit of the Pike from the main summit. Left to right are Brim Fell and the Old Man of Coniston, Dow Crag, the long flat top of Walna Scar above Hard Knott, Caw, Harter Fell and then the sharp little summit of Stickle Pike appearing above the green fields of Eskdale. The sea can be made out in the distance.
IMG_4873 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Another contender for the best Lakeland views from a mountain top - the view north-westwards on our descent from the Pike back towards Broad Crag.
From left to right - Black Crag, then Pillar appearing above Lingmell, High Stile & Co above Kirkfell, then Grasmoor, Great Gable and Grisedale Pike.
IMG_4877 by
Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
