Guided Walking Days in The Lake District. Scafell pike via the Corridor Route. July 9th 2016.

Last Saturday, Iain was working for Ambleside Adventures providing a Guided Fell Walking Day in The Lake District for Jon Sanderson, his son Alfie and friend Andy who had driven up from South Lincolnshire for the weekend.

The forecast for the day was poor, low cloud, heavy rain and winds gusting up to 40 mph on the summits, however, a walk is a walk and  provided one has good waterproofs - you can still go out!

Photo one sees the three at the confluence of  Ruddy Gill and Styhead Gill in upper Borrowdale. Seathwaite Fell (in the background- left) is reputed to be the wettest place in England! Today, it certainly felt like it!
                                                                                      

Several hours later, we found ourselves at the scene in photo two where the footpath up to the col at the head of Piers Gill branches off from the main "Corridor Route" footpath.

The Corridor  Route is one of the nicest ways up Scafell Pike from Styhead Pass (a little over an hours walk from Seathwaite in Borrowdale) and follows a gradually rising line from there to the summit.  Today, we saw little, but certainly all of the streams in spate were very impressive.

However, when we got to  the point where photo two was taken it really looked as though the weather might clear up. The clouds lifted and we got a clear view to the summit of Great End. However, this was only a brief interlude before the cloud closed in and the rain started again!

Photo three was taken by some kind chap at the summit of Scafell Pike at around 1pm (we had left Seathwaite at 09:40) and shows us all fairly drenched. Given the conditions, it was really surprising how many people were around, but there was some corporate orienteering event going on involving a lot of young people  from BMW. We can only hope that they all got off the mountain safely.

On our Guided Scafell Pike days, we will ideally do a circular route and today, Iain would have like to return to Borrowdale via the summits to the north of Scafell  - Broad Crag, Ill Crag & Great End  before dropping back to Seathwaite by way of Esk Hause & Ruddy Gill. However, with the wind picking up and conditions already poor, Iain decided that the most prudent plan was to return via our relatively sheltered ascent route.

Our final photo from this post about Guided  Fell Walking in The Lake District sees Jon, Alfie & Andy about ten minutes from Seathwaite walking alongside a considerably swollen Rover Derwent.

After we left Scafell Pike Summit, the weather worsened considerably, yet we still met people walking towards us, many ill-equipped for the conditions, all intent on reaching the summit and many clearly did not know exactly where they were as Iain was asked this question on a a number of occasions. This is typical, but really very poor!

If you are going to go hill walking in the UK's  mountains, then you should know how to read a map and use a compass. You should also be able to read and interpret a weather forecast and know when to "turn back". You should also be aware of what to take with you when going out in conditions which, in the mountains, can become very hostile in a very short space of time. We can advise you on all aspects of Hill Walking & Mountaineering in the UK and provide courses in Map Reading & Navigation Skills.

Or- you can hire the services of  an experienced Mountaineering Instructor to guide you & keep you safe in the hills. Iain has been walking the mountains of the Lake District for 47 years and knows all the routes, no matter what the weather!

Contact us here to book your guided  Lake District Fell Walk or Navigation Skills Training Course. We look forward to working with you!