A saunter up Scafell & Slightside

Hurrah, finally a good weather walking day (or so they forecast) and the alarm was set for 5am as we'd planned quite a walk for today.  Parking under Harter Fell we would make our way up the valley and up onto Scafell and then over to Slightside before heading back down to the base of Harter Fell.  A day which promised a nice walk in, a couple of waterfalls, a decent bit of scrambling, 2 Wainwrights, nice fluffy photogenic clouds and a nice gentle, but long, descent.  Sounds like a perfect day......and it was!


We started after parking the car walking into the valley along a well trodden path.  A little bit of upwardness followed by a nice flattish path then more upwardness meant we gained some initial height quite quickly.

The weather was perfect.  Blue skies, fluffy clouds, a light breeze when needed and quite warm.  Not what we'd expect for August but nice enough and I wasn't complaining.

On the initial walk into the valley before the main part of the climb was filled with beautiful view on all sides coupled with some ominous black clouds which suggested there was a bit of rain on the way but thankfully that never materialised and we arrived at the foot of Cam Spout where we stopped for a bite to eat.

A lovely place to stop with the falls on one side and Crinkle Crags, Bowfell and more on the other with the flat valley floor catching sun rays and shadows as the clouds moved over the sky.

After our snack it was time to make our way up the side of the waterfall and soon the well marked path had disappeared and we were left to find our own route through the rock, perfect!  My fav terrain.

At the top we walked through another valley with Mickledor straight in front and a tasty gully to our left which was our route up the next part of the hill took us up to Foxes Tarn which I must admit wasn't more than a puddle at this time of year.

The next stage was simply making our way up a steep rock and shale path which sapped the energy out of you but literally was a hop skip and a jump after that up onto Scafell.

The summit of Scafell had a couple of picnickers on it but nothing compared to Scafell Pike which seemed to have hundreds of ants pouring over its summit.  Popular on such a fair weather day.

After the obligatory picture taking at the summit it was off down the hillside through the rocks and over to Slightside, our next target.  Here we met a nice chap who was a fell runner normally but skipped a race today because he didn't feel quite up to it but still managed an impressive round of hills starting with Pike o Blisco in Langdale over the Crinkles, Bowfell, Esk Pike, Scafell Pike, Scafell and Slightside.   Then all the way back again where he was hoping to take in the Langdales.  Just hearing that made me feel a bit faint and silently vowed that I really need to get a bit fitter!!!!!

Slightside was a nice top and a little bit rocky which, of course, I adore.  We didn't hang around long and soon enough we were starting our descent which surprisingly wasn't that bad and apart from some significant boggy bits it was a long but gentle walk off the mountain with only a few steep rocky bits.

What a wonderful day, one of the best walks I've had in a long time.  It had everything I could want from a walk and I arrived back at the car with a smile on my face.  My legs were dirty, my boots were bogged but I was happy.  Loved every min of it!!! 

A misty murky wander over Wansfell

In our efforts to get out whatever the weather in this poor excuse for a summer we had a few hrs free on Sunday to play with and Wansfell seemed to be the ideal target.

Not too far but still a Wainwright tick and would provide a little bit of exercise for the weekend.

The path started as a wide track and wound its way round the side of the hill with views of Windemere opening up to the left. There was no steepness to the path and it continued, meandering round the hillside to the summit top following a wall.

The weather was mixed, a bit of mist, drizzle and it wasn't that warm really. Was it really August???

The summit was quite non descriptive with views over to Rydel Wate, up to Red Screes and Kirkstone Pass and then back down to Windemere and beyond. 

The path following the wall over to the second summit, Baystones which is the true high point of the Wainwright, was a pretty path and the wall was the star of the show, winding left and right up and down hill making some pretty patterns indeed.

After reaching Baystones we turned right to take the path back down towards the car and were met with a 2 pretty ponies and a young foal. The foal was too quick for me to get a non blurry picture but I got a snap of its auntie who was happy to just stand and pose.

Soon enough we were back at the Mortal Man car park and felt it would be rude not to pop in for Sunday lunch as we'd parked here for the past hour or so. The food was good and it was a lovely place to spend another hr in the lakes before heading back to real life and the thought of Monday looming in the distance.

Another trip out and even though the weather didn't really improve it was a lovely wander over a nice little fell.