A night on the fells.

This week started with a late-night call from some friends whose trekking company had organised a three peaks challenge ascending Ben Nevis, Scafell and Snowdon in a 24 hour period.  One of their guides had been taken ill on Ben Nevis and they needed a quick replacement so I agreed to guide the Scafell walk.  I met the group at 1.30 am.  As much of the walk took place in darkness, I have searched out some earlier photographs to show you the area.

Spot the wild camp - just leave behind no evidence that you were there.

We took a route behind Great End and across the boulder fields.  The boulders were particularly hard walking because it was dark and there was low cloud creating a slick of moisture on them. 

Boulder field - can be hard going and it was for us.  Scafell far right.

A closer look at the boulders - John in his element identifying lichens.

Summit cairn on Scafell - a familiar misty view for many!

I brought the group back down the corridor route to Stye Head and on to Seathwaite.  As we were circling around Stye Head the morning light was just breaking.  A tired group then carried on to complete the final section of the challenge up Snowdon and I went in to work at my day job!

Overall it was good to walk it at a different time of day and do some map and compass navigation.  If I’m wearing the right clothing, I love being on the hills in any weather.     

Beginning the next stage of access-for-all path.

At work we have just started a big project to construct another half a kilometre of access-for-all path along the Derwentwater shore.  At present, the existing route is being quite badly eroded in places and can be up to 4 metres wide and very muddy.

We are now working on a stretch on the eastern shore from the Kettlewell car park towards Keswick.  This project is a win-win project. Once it has a good surface about a metre and a half wide, the path becomes accessible for push-chairs, wheel-chairs and others with mobility difficulties.  It also encourages users to follow a narrower route rather than to be constantly widening the route as they try to avoid mud or puddles.  The surrounding vegetation can then thrive when it is no longer being trampled.

Our long-term plan is to have a complete circuit of the lake but, for such a big project, it can only be completed in stages as money becomes available.  Part of the funding for this stretch comes from the National Park's Access to Water Strategy.


As soon as we have more funding, we’ll move on to another length until we have the complete circuit and a superb walk will be there for us all.