Today would be my 100th Wainwright and as much as I wanted a "key peak" to be my 100th we chose a route the included Scafell and resulted in Lingmell being the 100th.
6.30am out of the house, food and water packed as well as the obligatory layers as we werent sure what the weather was going to throw at us today.
Parked at Seathwaite we made our way along the path through the valley that would take us up to the base of the first peak of the day. Great End.
The path rose gently and the closer we got to the point where all the paths converged it seemed like a bus had pulled in and there were people everywhere.
We had first lunch at Great End but keen to push on and get the 2 Hewitts done (Broad Crag and Ill Crag) before the big daddy - Scafell Pike.
Both Hewitts were easy enough and sitting atop Ill Crag we could see clearly over to Scafell and what seemed like hundreds of ants up top, those ants were in fact people. It was swarming with folks.
The walk up seemed quite steep and it was a bit shaley (remineded me a bit of bristly scree) but soon enough you we were on top and I had to practically elbow my way through to the stone top to stand atop the highest mountain in Englandshire!
We didnt stick around long and started to make our way down the path. Lingmell stood before us and I started to get a bit excited about its significance.
On the way down we met Callum (seen in the above picture in Orange) who was raising money for charity by doing the 3 peaks challenge - 3 peaks in 3 days. He'd completed Ben Nevis the day before, today was Scafell Pike and Sunday he was off to Wales to conquer Snowdon. Only 9 years old and raising money for a school friend. Read about his journey here - http://www.callums3peakchallenge.carboncookie.com/
On the descent of Scafell it was nice to veer away from the crowds over to the base of Lingmell. There were a few people coming off Lingmell but only us going up so much quieter than its neighbour Scafell.
Before long we were on the top and it felt good. 100 Wainwrights in total which I think is quite an achievement. That coupled with the additional Hewitts I have in Wales and Munro's in Scotland make my peak tally quite impressive by all accounts. Well I think so at least.
The sun was finally starting to come out and the light was suddenly great for pictures. Back off down the corridor route to Seathwaite was spendid with Great Gable, Green Gable and Basebrown off to our left.
Before long we were back at the start of the path and had just the final mile to go along to the car at Seathwaite. What a great day, yes my knees played up a little, but all in all it was a fab day, met some great people, climbed some spectacular mountains and that makes me Happy, Happy, Happy !
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