Having summited the highest Wainwright and mountain in England two days earlier, we figured that we would also summit the second highest. This was a walk made to shorten the number of walks I have left, by one at least, and as a result I conjured up the longest walk I’ve done on any of my Wainwright walks. 14 miles setting out from an absolute peach of a valley and from a car park that would rarely ever fill up. As it was we arrived just before 10am and only one other car was parked up and they were still putting their boots on. We started out through the forest, climbing on a mix of forest tracks and paths between the trees, before long we popped out on to Irton Fell to see cloudy views and clouds swirling around Whin Rigg and the Wasdale fells. The forecast was for the cloud to clear and blue skies to come out during the afternoon, the MWIS forecast was spot on and as we climbed so did the cloud. This walk would include lots of places and views that I’ve always wanted to see. Like looking down the Wasdale Screes and across Wastwater to Yewbarrow, Burnmoor Tarn and the views into Eskdale from Scafell and Slight Side. So much to see but many miles to get there, and with hardly anyone else around, a complete contrast to our walk up The Pike, this was to be a special outing. We really enjoyed walking across the top of Whin Rigg and Illgill Head, and even had a first lunch at the tarns between the two. However on descending to the Maiden Castle cairn we noticed it was 2.30pm already and we were about to start a 660metre climb to Scafell, we quickly got to Hard Rigg following what seemed to be a good path, it turned towards Green How and became a little feint but still good to follow, then we hit boggy, mossy ground, which when heading uphill and in a warm sun is sapping on the energy. In the end we reached the path which comes up over Green How from Wasdale Head, and with it, firmer ground.

We finally hit the summit of Scafell at 4.50pm and with it views for miles, we sat for a while eating lunch number two and soaked up the sunshine and the staggering scenery. Eventually we dragged ourselves away and headed down to Slight Side, the sun had started to hit a slight golden stage and the light looking down into Eskdale was stunning, by this point it was 6.15pm and we still had just over 5 miles to walk back! We decided we would head over to cross the two gills as high up them as possible. We had seen on our ascent of Scafell that were was a lot of water in Hardrigg Gill and also Broad Tongue seemed to have a lot of standing water and looked boggy. We made the right call and easily hopped the gills before dropping to Burnmoor Tarn, it was a bit squidgy around the tarn but we made swift progress around to Burnmoor Lodge. Then we heard a roar in the Wasdale valley, I shouted “planes”, and as I grabbed my camera we saw two banking Eurofighter Typhoon turning hard at the end of Illgill Head before screaming over the tarn and us and heading down the Western Lakes coast. We were still giddy as we dropped into Miterdale to see two stunning waterfalls falling into the valley. It was 7.45pm at this point and we still had 3 miles to walk to the car, Miterdale is a long way, thankfully the light is good until 9pm in the middle of May and we made quick progress alongside the river. That is apart from me slipping twice on greasy ground. It didn’t spoil what was a truly stunning day and one of my best days walking anywhere. I’m just grateful to have shared it with Linda and we got to see clear summit views from the top of Scafell which is a memory that will live long. The crowning part was that Scafell was number 200 of my Wainwrights, a perfect way to hit that milestone. Apologies for the number of photos, but there is just so much to see.

Start – Miterdale parking

Route – Miterdale Forest – Irton Fell – Whin Rigg – Illgill Head – Hard Rigg – Green How – Scafell – Slight Side – Hardrigg Gill – Burnmoor Tarn and Lodge – Miterdale

Distance – 14 miles    Start time – 10am   Time taken – 10hrs 30mins Highest Point – Scafell 964 metres

Weather – Cloud to start but lifting to blue skies, sun and glorious conditions