The Ascent

After a restless night listening to the rain bouncing off the tent, we woke to a bright sunny day. I didn’t feel 40 at this point but I was soon to learn by the end of the day just how old my legs felt. After opening a few cards (but no birthday present yet !) and having a quick trip to the dreaded (Peter) delightful (Julia) Gaynor Sports to purchase a pair of walking trousers/shorts, we set off at 11.30 from Langdale NT campsite.

We had an OS Outdoor map and a small printout from the internet of an intended route to Scafell, along with a compass (which neither of us knows how to use properly) and with bright sunshine we didn’t think we could go too wrong. The starting point was behind the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel not difficult to find even after quaffing a few pints of guiness there last night. The path was long stony and flat, winding towards **** in the distance with *** running alongside. There was little company along the path, a few sheep and some old old people stumbling slowly along with the aid of those ski poles you see all the time now.

After half an hour we crossed *** to start a steep ascent up what can only be described as a dried up rocky waterfall. The going was slow due to the fact you felt like you were climbing up a very steep, twisting, turning staircase. After about half an hour of this we completely lost any resemblance to a path and started to scramble over some very large rocks and boulders negotiating a small stream running down. I have to admit becoming slightly disheartened at this point, I was out of breath, red in the face and had very tired legs, and I was no where near Scafell, I couldn’t even see it.

Peter tried his best to encourage me, implying this was the hard bit and once we had done this we would be most of the way up the ascent. One thing he is not very good at is lying, so this seemed a good point to whinge about the absence of a birthday present, and that it simply wasn’t worth climbing a mountain for to get.

We plonked ourselves finally at the top of *** and had a cheese sandwich for energy and encouragement. Not long after we set off my rucksack starting making a strange noise, even though I was tired, I thought it was too early for hearing things. After a quick investigation I found a very small silver phone, flashing a ‘Happy Birthday’ message. A bit embarrassing considering we were passing some people at the time (I hate use of mobile phones in inappropriate places) but a nice surprise and very much appreciated present, at least if we got lost we could phone for help (only joking).

My spirits were lifted and we proceeded down (oh no !) to Angle Tarn, and up the other side towards Esk Hause. This wasn’t too bad, as we reached the top we had fab views back towards Langdale Pikes, across to *** and ahead (oh god) to Scafell Pike. Too be honest it looked from this angle not too much of a climb left and for the first time I felt confident of achieving my goal. The weather was absolutly perfect and it looked like we would get a clear view from the top. We made the grassy climb up to the ascent of Broad Crag getting a good glimpse of Ill Crag to the right of us. Once on Broad Crag we quickly found out why it is so named, the majority of it is what can only be described as a huge boulder field, very difficult to pick your way over as no obvious path can be found. I felt a bit like I was walking over rocks at the seaside only much higher up.

Eventually as we approached the final drop down and climb up to the Pike my heart sank. This was very scary, a thin narrow sort of zig zag path led up with a disconcerting drop to both sides. Now I’ve been across Striding Edge and had no fears or difficulty but that was some years ago on my friend Sally’s 30th birthday. So I’ve either lost some bottle along the way or this looks much worse than it really is. My worst fears were confirmed when we came across a couple stood at the bottom, with what appeared to be him, giving her, an encouraging cuddle and pep talk, or they were just carried away with the view. I then looked up at the final climb and was amazed to see a group of pensioners coming down with the aid of ski poles. This was all the encouragement I needed, if they can do it, then I can, all I need to do is not look at the drop and concentrate on where I put my feet. Peter gave his final say ‘ I’m right behind you, if you fall grab me and we’ll go down together’ very encouraging.

The Top

Before I knew it we were at the top, almost banging my head on the *** as I hadn’t dare take my eyes off my feet. I can’t describe the feeling, as the relief from the climb hadn’t arrived as I knew I had to go back down it. The couple we had seen at the bottom finally arrived at the top and we all congratulated ourselves taking those couply photo’s standing on top of England feeling very pleased with ourselves.

I then hid behind a rock and used my new toy to tell my Mother I was so far safe, and had made it to the top, only to be dismayed to get her answer phone. We didn’t stay long as time was getting on (4.15) and we had the horrendous descent off the Pike to negotiate. It wasn’t till we got back down, that I began to relax and enjoy the scenery. Great Gable looked fantastic as well as the numerous mountains that surrounded us, we couldn’t believe how high we were and that we had arrived there under our own steam. We were inspired to return as much as we can this year to climb what we could see.

The Descent

We made a slow descent across and down Broad Crag trying to retrace our steps across the boulders. There was a bit of a spring in our step now as we thought the hard work of the day was over and our goal achieved. We hurried on down towards Angle Tarn taking in the views of Crinkle Crags and *** marveling at the good weather and the prospect of lots of Guiness and good food at the bottom. At Angle Tarn we stopped to eat more sandwiches and chocolate to give us the energy to face scrambling down ****. There were a few campers around here starting to cook their evening meals