Scafell Pike from Wasdale

Earlier this week I enjoyed a lovely day out with Razia and 10 year old Aakesh on a guided walk up Scafell Pike.  They had already climbed Snowdon and Ben Nevis, so this was their third and final national peak to summit!  Aakesh had requested for Don to join him on the walk and of course Don was very pleased to come along, as apart from sleeping, a long walk in the fells is his favourite pastime!

A busy Scafell Pike summit!

The weather forecast had predicted that this would be the best day of the week, with storms for the following two days, and  although they had booked for the following day, luckily I was able to make a last minute change to my plans and accommodate them...so much nicer for us all to walk in pleasant weather.  Many other people also had the same idea and so it was an extremely busy day for Scafell Pike as you can see from the summit photo!

Views of Wastwater from the grassy shoulder of Lingmell.

To get away from the crowds, on the descent we left the path at Lingmell Col and headed across to the shoulder of Lingmell on a lovely grassy trod – I suspect this has formed gradually over many years from fell runners racing here, as this is the route that the annual 21 mile Wasdale fell race finishes down every July.  The trod starts gently but once on the shoulder the path becomes steep as you head down to the foot of the fell with Wastwater in straight ahead.  The views from this point are dramatic with a panorama of mountains, lake and sea in the distance. There is one short, rough rocky section to slow you down a little but after that the path is wonderfully grassy once again.  We didn’t meet anyone all the way down this route and could look smugly across to see crowds of people on the main Scafell Pike path!

Thank you Razia and Aakesh for a great day out!

Kate

Mosedale and Wasdale Head

Panorama taken on our descent of Lingmell. Left to right: Scafell Pike, Scafell, Illgill Head, Wastwater, Yewbarrow and Kirkfell.