Saturday

A cloudy and rainy start to the day. After arriving at the campsite (Fisherground in Eskdale valley) around 1am it was tough to get up and see the cloud and clag hanging over the valley. A depressing thought that the weather might remain dire all weekend. :( However breakfast fortified me :) sufficiently to don my raincoat and venture out. Dashing between tents, avoiding the downpours, we hatched a plan for the day - an easy round over Illgill.

Climbing directly up behind the campsite, past the Ravenglass railway, we gained a small ridge before dropping and then climbing steeply up through the Miterdale forest. Turning North East we climbed over Whin Rigg and Illgill head. The cloud was lifting and views of Wast water became more frequent. Dropping off the ridge down to Burnmoor Tarn was steep at times, but easy walking as the path was dry and not too boggy! Passing east of the Tarn we joined the main path down to Boot. By this time the clouds were gone and the sun was out.

Arriving at Burnmoor Inn in glorious sunshine it was impossible to ignore the lure of the outside tables and a pint of Jennings. Fantastic end to a pleasant days walking.

Lutz and Nigel on Illcrag above Wastwater

Sunday

A glorious start to the day - the previous day's rain had been forgotton. At the back of our minds though we were starting to worry about when the predicted bad weather was going to arrive. Our big day out involved a route taking in Scafell and Scafell Pike.

From the campsite, our route took us up the Eskdale to Boot, then up to Eel Tarn. At that point the path becomes indistinct, but with the help of a compass bearing we found our way to Stony Tarn and then up past Whinscale and over Slight Side to the top of Scafell.

Nigel, Tony, and I had started later than the rest of the group so we had spent most of the morning trying to catch them up. We finally caught them lunching on the top of Scafell. It was their 3rd lunch for the day but only our 1st!

Dropping steeply off the side of Scafell to Foxes Tarn, a route made all the more challenging by the combination of loose rock and volume of walkers. Fortunately all made it down without mishap. At this point Tony, Lucy and Vernon descended to the upper Eskdale via Cam Spout.

The remainder of us continue with a steep climb from the Tarn back up to Mickledore where the local mountain rescue team were checking the equipment in the rescue box.

There is a shorter route between Scafell and Scafell Pike via Broad Stand. This involves a 10 foot drop to an exposed platform - best done in the reverse direction with helmet, and rope protection!

From Mickledore we climbed the last 100m to join the hordes on Scafell Pike. For some of the other walkers such was the joy at reaching the summit that they celebrated with a can of beer and a smoke.

As the summit was so busy we moved swiftly on to the col between Scafell Pike and Ill Crag. At this point a steep scree covered path leads down Little Narrowcove. We could see the sun drenched upper Eskdale valley hundreds of metres below us. Taking an "interesting" route over a wee rock bluff, we descended down into the upper Eskdale.

The upper Eskdale is a huge contrast to the rest of the Lake District. It feels remote and quiet and is one of my favourite places in the Lake District. We saw few other people walking the track down to the main road. By the time we got to the road it felt like diner time and we still had 3 miles of tarmac to go. My feet were sore already, so it was with great relief that we got to the pub.

However, my relief was short lived! We decided to move on to the next pub - the Burnmoor Inn as we had had such good beer the previous evening. At the Burnmoor, after a couple of beers, we had bets with each other how far we had walked today. The winning answer was 28 miles - no wonder I had sore feet.

Despite my weary feet, it was one of the best days walking we have had in the Lake District with great weather, great company and a great route.

Monday

After all that walking I decided to go for a mountain bike ride. Others partook in the usual mix of SMoG activities:

• Climbing at Ayr crag
• Walking over the Old Man of Coniston
• Mountain biking between Fisherground and Ravenglass

We stayed at Fisherground Campsite

Last Updated: 13 Oct 2005	© Slough Mountaineering Group	contact us