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The Fellwalker by Peter John Farnworth
WALK 46 SATURDAY JULY 20th 1991Four months have passed since we were in the Lakes. We have had our bags packed for the last four or five weeks, on account of the bad weather over these summer months. Conditions were right at this moment in time, so off we went to climb Slight Side, one for Mark to log up. When he had climbed this one, he would be on a par with me (I first climbed this one in 1985, Walk 29.) But first we had to drive over Wrynose Pass, and then the steepest Pass in the Lake District, Hard Knott Pass. I have been over this Pass two or three times now, but I have never seen a small car go over it. No wonder, when you see the sign at start of the Pass saying, Narrow route – Severe Bends - MAX 30% (1in3)ft. Let’s put it this way, it's not the best place to break down and then send for the AA!
The day was clear as we left the YHA Hostel, where we stayed over night to get a good start to climb these two summits. We walked past the WHA House, which is a ten minute walk back up the Pass from the Hostel. From here, we left the road and followed the path to a place called Catcove Beck, from which point we could see the summit of Slight Side before us, about a mile away. After crossing a very wet and boggy piece of ground called Quagrigg Mose, we headed for the summit. For some reason or other, we just walked straight past it as though it was not there, without a second glance. Why we did this, I will never know. Perhaps it was because I saw higher ground before me and just carried on to it. I even estimated the time that we would arrive at the summit from the Mose, i.e. 11.15am. But sometimes you lose the plot, don't you? Maybe I have an excuse after all…the mist. That was it! As we walked farther up the fell side, the mist started to roll in and as we gained altitude it dawned on me that we were heading towards Scafell. We reached the summit with the mist well down. Time now, 12.15pm. As the mist lifted slightly, I could see the lay of the land before me and it was only then that everything fell into place. We left the summit and walked towards Lords Rake (see Walk 29 for more details.) We had just arrived there when the mist dropped down again. We left and followed a path which led to Broad Stand, with the mist still lifting and falling and giving us a chance to see all the deep gullies and crags below us. Fair warning now, this is no place to be when the mist is down. Danger all around. NOTE: If you were on the summit of Scafell and had difficulty getting off with the mist down, obviously it depends on which way you come up and choose to go back, but the most important thing is to get off safely, no matter where you come down. Getting back down to your starting point does not come into it. So if it happens when standing here, all I can say is follow the path over to Slight Side, to a lower altitude and out of the mist, and walk West, avoiding the crags to your right. Follow the path past Lords Rake and follow the rim of the fell down towards Burnmoor Tarn. Leave Broad Stand well alone! You may think that you can come off at this point, but there are crags and danger everywhere. From here, we returned to Scafell to have dinner, and also to reflect on where we went wrong the first time around. Conditions by now were far worse than when we first started off in the warm sunny valley. After sorting things out we backtracked to Slight Side. Time now, 2.15pm. At Slight Side, we took the usual photograph of the summit, after which we dropped down in altitude and walked back over Quagrigg Mose (squelch, squelch!) and headed for some high ground called Great How (there’s another Great How at Longsleddale, see Walk 45.) After spending ten minutes here, we cut across to Stoney Tarn as a way off but at this point we decided to backtrack and go past Dasonground Crags, then follow the path back to where we started on the Pass. This route to Scafell is one of the better ways to this summit, with good open views on both sides of the valley of Brotherikeld and across to the Roman Fort (they left some time ago!) This is a good place to visit and if you can cast your mind back to all those years ago when standing there, what a commanding place it was guarding the Pass over the mountains. Mountains walked that day: Slight Side 58 Scafell 2 [[]] Diagram & Stats
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