Day 1: Left Nottingham at 6am and parked up at Scales by 10am. Climbed Souther Fell and then the classic Grade 1 scramble Sharp Edge on Blencathra, which was superb. This was supposed to be a nice easy start, but we went and extended the walk to include Mungrisdale Common (so we would never have to do it again!) and in the end this became the longest distance we walked in a single day. Checked into Patterdale YHA and enjoyed Dave’s chilli!
Day 2: Pinnacle Ridge, Grade 3 scramble (Mod rated crux) on St. Sunday Crag. While trying to find the “Elmhow zig-zags” footpath, Andrew muttered “you’ve really got to want this haven’t you”, a phrase repeated almost everyday thereafter. The scramble was superb with great exposure at the end, though we renamed it “Jenga Rock Ridge” as it’s mainly just a tottering pile of blocks. 3 more Wainwrights bagged with a descent via Birks and Arnison Crag.
Day 3: Walked up Deepdale to attempt a classic scramble combination of Link Cove Gill and Greenhow End onto Fairfield. We thought the Gill would be “in” as it’s been pretty dry in the Lakes for weeks….how could we be so wrong? Andrew had to lower a rope down to me after about 5 meters of what should have been simple climbing, as the rock was covered in a greasy slime making all upwards progress almost impossible. Andrew then bravely had a go at leading the first proper cascade/waterfall (I was preying he wouldn’t get up it!) but sensibly we backed off and ended up going up the dry slabs on the right edge of the ravine at Grade 2. Greenhow End Light Slabs were straightforward in comparison and provided a quick way to the summit of Fairfield. We continued the theme of 3 Wainwrights per day by adding Hart Crag and Hartsop Above How.
Day 4: The forecast is not so good, and my ankle needs a rest, so we have an easier day while moving base to Coniston Coppermines YHA. However, we managed to do the 3 star grade 2 scramble on Raven Crag in Yewdale and the summit of Holme Fell before the rain set in. Cooked a morale boosting curry in the evening.
Day 5: A fantastic day – we climbed Low Water Beck (behind the hostel, 30 mins approach) grade 3*** scramble. As the first pitch is one of the steepest and quite serious, we did the whole scramble roped, alternating pitches – a total of 8 pitches. Rain was threatening when we arrived at Low Water, so rather than further scrambling, we opted for yet another 3 Wainwright day with Coniston Old Man, Brim Fell and Swirl How.
Day 6: Everything had been leading up to this – Giant’s Crawl on Dow Crag, “the best Diff in England”. I did it last year with Che but Andrew hadn’t, so I got to lead the pitches Che did last time (P1 and 3). Route completed in 2.5 hours, and just in time before rain came in as we got to the summit.
Trip totals: approx. 4100 metres of ascent (13300 feet), covering 63 km (39 miles).
Scrambles – Grade 1***, Grade 2***, Grade 2**, Grade 2, Grade 3***, Grade 3***
Climbs: Diff***
Wainwrights: 14 summits
Dave
