Scrambling Meet

Members: Roger Dyke, Martin Heaton, Neville McMillan, Lester Payne, Dave Wylie.

Guests: Trish Cranston, Roger Daley, David Moon.

 

Well, I said it would be a long day, and it certainly was. On a bright, sunny morning, Roger and Neville arrived at my house at 8:00, and we set off. It didn't help when my car hit a roadside rock on the Wrynose pass and punctured a tyre. Fortunately, Roger and Neville combined their hundreds of years of experience, and had the wheel changed very quickly.

All the same I was half an hour late when I was met by a small, patient and enthusiastic group at Brotherilkeld. At 10:30 we started walking up the Esk valley, trying to ignore the deep pools that invited us to jump in, and eventually reached Great Moss, where the views opened up spectacularly. From the foot of Ill Crags, the scrambling was soon underway, and we swarmed up a series of slabs.

We came to a stop at the foot of a large imposing slab halfway up the crag. I had soloed this on the trial run, but volunteered to take a rope up. It was not needed, however, as the rest of the party, obviously inspired by my stylish ascent, decided to solo. A very fine pitch !

There was plenty more scrambling up to the top and enough scope for people to pick their own path, with Dave Moon being particularly adventurous. We reached the summit of Ill Crags at around 14:45. We were on top of Scafell about an hour and a half later, having had afternoon tea, scaled Scafell Pike and then Broad Stand, which, to my shame, I had never done before.

At this point I thought it would be an easy stroll down the south ridge to the road. The route looked straight-forward on the map, but this proved to be deceptive and it was a foot-sore party that reached the cars at 19:15 !

A long, but very memorable, day.

Martin Heaton