Looking towards Great Gable - Night Hikes and Glorious Sunsets
Night Hikes and Glorious Sunsets - Scafell Pike at its very best
In recent weeks we’ve been mostly kept busy with adventurous activities such as Canyoning, Rock Climbing, and Abseiling. Interspersed amongst these days have been a few day hikes on Scafell Pike and some night hikes. Both of the recent night hikes were a little unusual, in a good way. On both occasions we were supporting our friends at Advocate Events who provide bespoke events and are well worth checking out if in the market for that. Their level of service and customer care is very high.
First up was a midweek 3 Peaks Challenge event for a group of around 20 people. I arrived at Wasdale Head around 8.30pm which was in plenty time. The other guides were already there so we had a chat about the night ahead. The big issue was, we had noticed signs up warning of overnight road closures meaning we may all be stuck in Wasdale until morning. Not good.
Well before the group arrived we managed to speak to the foreman of roadworks. He did inform us the road would be closing shortly and would stay fully closed until at least 5am. We needed to come up with an alternative plan so all of us would not be stuck for the night. After some thinking and map checking, we had a plan.
We spoke to the event manager who was keen for us to propose a ‘plan b’ and this was to be the nearby mountain of Whin Rigg. Not on the same scale as Scafell Pike, but pretty lovely all the same. Setting off as darkness began to fall and none of us really knowing the route did feel like a genuine adventure. We had to make this work for the group and keep them on track on terrain we didn’t know. Between the 3 guides, me, Gary, and Luke, the plan worked perfectly and we hit the summit of Whin Rigg where glorious views opened up. Most of the Lancashire coastline lit up as was the Isle of Man.
As a result of a smaller summit but still plenty of distance, the group were now ahead of schedule and more importantly, were able to drive to Wales with no road closures in sight.
A job well done.
Views into Wasdale - Night Hikes and Glorious Sunsets
Now on to last weekend. The weather has hotted up, with daytime summit temperatures reaching over 20’C which is extremely rare. Valley temperatures have been oppressive and for sure any day I haven’t been working I have been hiding in our shaded garden.
The team of 6 arrived slightly ahead of schedule, maybe 9.15pm or thereabouts. The weather simply amazing. The heat of the day now gone, but all the mountains clear and the sky slowly turning crimson.
Sadly one of the team had twisted an ankle earlier in the day so would not be joining us. And despite everyone else looking to be in good health and raring to go, within the first hour of the walk all but one had either needed to or decided to turn back. So it was just two of us heading for the summit and tonight was a trip to the summit not to be missed. The light conditions were amongst the finest I have ever seen.
Some days the mountains can be cruel, but there are times when they smile upon us and this night was one of those times. And it is necessary to take the poor weather nights with the sublime, but when the good ones come, wow are they good. I really could have sat up there all night, in a t-shirt too as it was so pleasant up there.
Alas we were on a tight schedule so we kept the pace high and the round trip took us about 3 hours 30 minutes. Rapid.
Despite only one of the group summiting, this too felt like a job well done. We must always remember that it is not the summit that is important, it is returning safely to base that is the most important part of a mountain day or night.
Thanks to all the lovely participants and to Advocate Events.
Mark
Summit of Whin Rigg - Night Hikes and Glorious Sunsets