On the final slopes to the summit - The Corridor Route to Scafell Pike
The Corridor Route to Scafell Pike
After a busy winter in Spain and a recent house move, we haven’t had much time for getting out in the mountains in any capacity. Well thankfully that changed today as I was tasked with guiding Susan, from Devon, who had her sights set on Scafell Pike.
A regular hill walker all her life, Susan is well familiar with the Lake District but was looking for a more challenging route to Scafell Pike, hence felt more comfortable hiring a guide to help.
The Corridor Route was to be the route of choice and we met early this morning at Seathwaite Farm Campsite in Borrowdale. It was freezing cold, but the skies were a gorgeous shade of blue.
We set off at a nice steady pace heading towards Taylor Gill Force. Soon we were in the sun and our coats were getting packed away in our bags. As we approached Styhead Tarn so the Scafell range came into full view and wow were they putting on a show for us in their winter coats. As fine as I have ever seen these mountains, and I’ve seen them a lot.
We took a quick breather at Styhead and discussed the onward route. The Corridor Route was still in full shade and looked decidedly wintery, with plenty of snow present. As we did not have crampons or axes with us we elected to avoid this, instead setting our aim for the sunny side of the mountains. We passed by the beautifully situated Sprinkling Tarn before climbing up to Esk Hause. Here we came across a couple of other walkers, they were later to offer us crisps and chocolate on the summit. Beautiful people.
Above Esk Hause the terrain becomes more rocky and soon we are crossing the first of two boulder fields as we traverse Ill Crag and Broad Crag. As expected, the snow cover was minimal and the walking an absolute delight. The final push up to the summit of Scafell Pike had more snow, but none of it posed a problem and soon we were enjoying outstanding views from the highest point in England. Scotland, The Isle of Man, Morecambe Bay and the whole of the Lake District was in view and looking tremendous.
After a discussion about our return route we set off to retrace our steps as far as Sprinkling Tarn before following Ruddy Gill back to Seathwaite.
Alpine conditions all day, just a bit chilly in the wind around the summit plateau, but that’s not a complaint, it adds to the experience.
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Thanks for reading.
Mark & Kate
Broad Crag looking towards Scafell Pike - The Corridor Route to Scafell Pike
Looking NW from the summit - The Corridor Route to Scafell Pike
Scafell from Scafell Pike - The Corridor Route to Scafell Pike
The Scafell range - The Corridor Route to Scafell Pike