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Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Scafell, Slight Side and Done!


Postby hooter2014 » Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:31 am

Wainwrights included on this walk: Scafell, Slight Side

Hewitts included on this walk: Scafell

Date walked: 02/04/2017

Time taken: 7.53

Distance: 12.1 km

Ascent: 928m

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With a dodgy left knee and an operation looming which means I'll probably be off my feet let alone a hill for a while I'd been wanting to walk the last two (of my first Wainwright round), Scafell and Slight Side since September last year and with my better half.

The title of the walk should maybe be Slight Side and Scafell and Done as that is the order we did them in, parking Beside Wha House Farm in Eskdale and taking a generally northern linear route from there but never mind. For quite some time I'd planned that the last Wainwright of my first round should be Scafell and really it seemed to be the best way to do the walk as I was left with Slight Side to do as well. I don't normally like linear walks, I much prefer a round and as you can see from the planner we did our best to make sure it was not totally linear with a detour across the south western slopes of Scafell and Slight Side on our way back.

The next thing we'd been waiting for was the right weather conditions which matched a weekend off that we had together, as we only get one every 5 weeks you can see that we have to be quite lucky. At the beginning of last week after a great weekend at the end of March, the forecast seemed to show that Saturday 1st was looking a bit iffy and Sunday 2nd seemed to be the better day, which is exactly how it turned out. I really wanted to have a view when I got to the top, more of that later.

So after a quiet night in Ambleside, don't by the way go and see the film Ghost in the Shell :thumbdown: , it's one of the worst I've seen in ages. We were parked up and ready just before 10am, the sun was blazing and there was hardly a breath of wind, off we went up the path with Hare and Goat Crags to our left and views gradually opening up of Hard Knott and the Roman Fort.

P1020407.JPG
Hard Knott and the Roman Fort


After that it became a bit of a slog through some very wet and boggy ground under Bull How and Dawsonground Craggs, past or through Catcove Beck, which to be honest wasn't such a hardship as views like this towards Bowfell were opening up all the time.

P1020409.JPG
Bowfell


The water really was pouring off Quagrigg Moss, I'm not sure this picture does it justice it looks quite dry, but we could now see what lay ahead.

P1020411.JPG
Slight Side with Scafell looming behind


Looking back you can maybe see how wet the ground was and how good a day it was.

P1020412.JPG
The Coniston fells to the left and Harter Fell to the right


The slog up the south western side of Slight Side is quite a fearsome one, but worth it when it gives you views like this.

P1020415.JPG
Eskdale Fell, Burnmoor Tarn Whin Rigg and Illgill Head


We'd made it to the top of Slight Side and up to this point there had hardly been a cloud around Scafell, but there were a few looming :roll:

P1020416.JPG
Scafell from Slight Side

P1020418.JPG
Esk Pike, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags from Slight Side

P1020419.JPG
The Coniston Fells from Slight Side


Well 213 down and 1 left to go to complete my first round. I'd really only started walking again midway through 2013 following a bit of a change in my life, I'd done the odd bit when younger and had access to the Highlands of Scotland as a child with family in Muir of Ord near Inverness and Shieldaig which is a little village to the West of the Torridon giants so I would spend countless hours in the wilds with my cousins, but in all honesty had become a bit of a Townie in my adult years :oops: Like I say a change in my circumstances made me "rediscover" the great outdoors and what a place we in Britain have at our fingertips, I include England and Scotland as I have a foot in both camps being half Scottish, half Geordie. I am sure Wales and Ireland offer the same, I'm yet to sample their delights though. Can there be anything better than having completed a hard slog up a hill, drinking in the views? I don't think so. Anyway back to the walk the cloudless day we'd enjoyed up to that point was having second thoughts, whilst it was still fine to the east of Long Green..

P1020422.JPG
Over Great Moss


..there were a few clouds creeping over Scafell :(

P1020424.JPG
Fingers crossed for the hill gods


So it was with great aplomb and after a long drawn out ceremony (my better half said don't touch it till the camera is ready) I summited my 214th Wainwright.

P1020427.JPG
Me on top of Scafell


Better still the hill gods did listen.

P1020428.JPG

P1020430.JPG


We stayed around at the top for a while speaking to a chap from Dundee and a couple from down South looking over to Scafell Pike and the dozens on its summit... was I glad I had chose Scafell for my final Wainwright, heck yes :D I wasn't sure what I'd feel when I got to the top, euphoria, relief, great sense of achievement or what. In all honesty as I am sitting here now the next day writing this I still cannot put my finger on it. I don't have any great desire to summit all the hills the country has to offer, for a start when I'm next able to is anyone's guess as I go under the knife again in just over a weeks time. I know I'll be back in the lakes as my better half has a good few to go and I'm planning to start and up my Munro count, not to mention the Welsh and Irish hills. I think I'll say this, yes I reached a milestone yesterday (one that I am proud of especially since for around 20 months I've had issues with my left knee), was it the destination, no simply part of the wonderful journey open to us all in our great outdoors.

Oh and just to show you the weather gods have a sense of irony, no sooner were we 15 minutes off the summit, did the clouds clear totally and leave for the day ! :wink:

P1020433.JPG
Back towards Eskdale Fell, Burnmoor Tarn Whin Rigg and Illgill Head
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hooter2014
Walker
 
Posts: 259
Munros:6   
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:116
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Feb 26, 2014

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby johnkaysleftleg » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:41 pm

Congratulations :clap: :clap:
A wonderful fell to finish on and a beautiful day. I was pottering around the Grasmere Fells. Good luck for the upcoming opperation so you can start to have a crack at many more hills in the future.
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johnkaysleftleg
Hill Bagger
 
Posts: 3340
Munros:25   Corbetts:11
Fionas:11   Donalds:3
Sub 2000:7   Hewitts:172
Wainwrights:214   Islands:8
Joined: Jan 28, 2009
Location: County Durham

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby hooter2014 » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:31 pm

johnkaysleftleg wrote:Congratulations :clap: :clap:
A wonderful fell to finish on and a beautiful day. I was pottering around the Grasmere Fells. Good luck for the upcoming opperation so you can start to have a crack at many more hills in the future.


Thanks, looked good over where you were too.
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hooter2014
Walker
 
Posts: 259
Munros:6   
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:116
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Feb 26, 2014

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby Guinessman » Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:47 pm

Congratulations!!!.

I had posted on your other thread re snow on Scafell before I saw this ! Doh!

I was on Grike ,caw fell and others that day. Great day.
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Guinessman
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Posts: 1083
Munros:282   Corbetts:52
Fionas:27   Donalds:89
Hewitts:142
Wainwrights:214   Islands:15
Joined: Dec 28, 2009
Location: NW Durham

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby mamoset » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:37 pm

:clap: Well done hooter, great choice of walk to finish the Wainy's :clap:
mamoset
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1674
Munros:256   Corbetts:6
Donalds:1
Hewitts:115
Wainwrights:214   Islands:5
Joined: Feb 12, 2011

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby hooter2014 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:23 pm

Guinessman wrote:Congratulations!!!.

I had posted on your other thread re snow on Scafell before I saw this ! Doh!

I was on Grike ,caw fell and others that day. Great day.


haha no worries , looked like you had a cloud free day over there :D

mamoset wrote::clap: Well done hooter, great choice of walk to finish the Wainy's :clap:


yep it sure was :wink:
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hooter2014
Walker
 
Posts: 259
Munros:6   
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:116
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Feb 26, 2014

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby dav2930 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:59 pm

Congrats on completing the Wainy's, looked a great walk on a great day. :clap: :clap: Eskdale is a wonderful part of the Lakes.

Hope the op on your knee goes well.
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dav2930
Ambler
 
Posts: 1615
Munros:244   Corbetts:14
Fionas:18   Donalds:56
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:164
Wainwrights:214   Islands:2
Joined: Feb 13, 2015
Location: Cumbria

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby hooter2014 » Wed Apr 05, 2017 10:03 am

dav2930 wrote:Congrats on completing the Wainy's, looked a great walk on a great day. :clap: :clap: Eskdale is a wonderful part of the Lakes.

Hope the op on your knee goes well.


thanks, we love Eskdale too, not so sure the better half enjoys the roads to it though :sick:
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hooter2014
Walker
 
Posts: 259
Munros:6   
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:116
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Feb 26, 2014

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby trailmasher » Wed Apr 05, 2017 11:28 am

Well done on bagging your 214th :clap: :clap: and despite the knee problem looks like you enjoyed every minute of it hooter 8) Great walk and photos :clap: good luck with the knee job and many more days on the hills :)
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trailmasher
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Posts: 1302
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Hewitts:179
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Joined: Nov 26, 2014
Location: Near Appleby - Cumbria

Re: Scafell, Slight Side and Done!

Postby hooter2014 » Wed Apr 05, 2017 12:09 pm

trailmasher wrote:Well done on bagging your 214th :clap: :clap: and despite the knee problem looks like you enjoyed every minute of it hooter 8) Great walk and photos :clap: good luck with the knee job and many more days on the hills :)


thanks, cannot wait!
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hooter2014
Walker
 
Posts: 259
Munros:6   
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:116
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Feb 26, 2014

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