Having conquered Allen Crags we could see Great End and it seemed to be very close. we have a chat and decided that we wouldn't waste the height we had gained and would therefore make are way up there. This is the 5th highest of the Wainwrights but we had done most of the hard climbing by now so I diversion seemed in order.
Great end is to the right of the picture. The end of my finger is to the left! And yes, it is April, it is a beautiful warm sunny day and what do we see...snow!
There was a desire to bury my face in the snow to get rid of the heat but we decided that would be bonkers and so we headed towards the summit. It is a rock / boulder (how big does a rock have to be before it becomes a boulder?) fest and so care is required to prevent ankles from being tweaked. Take your time and plenty of care and it is safe.
You soon reach the top which is to the left of where you initially seem to be aiming but the cairn gives the game away once you reach it. And there it is. The fifth highest Wainwright tucked nicely in the pocket!
What I hadn't realised, probably stupidly, is that we were close to Scafell Pike and the picture below shows this. On the way down from our walk we spoke to a group who had come up from Langdale as we had and gone directly for Scafell Pike. We probably could've done the same if (a) I had realised that it was an option and (b) we weren't intent on visiting other fells in the day.
The unmistakable box cairn shows how close we are. Maybe a forty-five minute walk? No idea but it was great to realise that we'd hit the top of number 5 and number 1 was, therefore, not a distant dream but just a further 70 metres up!
Comments