3 Peaks with The Bourne Coffee Company
Day 2 - Seathwaite to Scafell Pike and Return
Cumbria
Distance 16km Climb 996m
Sunday 18th September 2011
We woke up early, Anne had said the night before that we could just leave her in bed and she would rest till we got back. So David and I set off up Scafell Pike from the farm campsite at Seathwaite, it was very cold and there was mist in the valley.
During the night I had got up and when I looked up the hills, I could see lights coming down the track. These were from walkers coming down, doing the challenge. Their mini buses were parked in the lane, waiting to take them to the next step of the challenge, Snowdon. I went back to bed.
The walk up the track was straight forward, leading up the valley crossing the bridge then the steep climb by some trees. We headed South then South West reaching Styhead Gill which we followed to Styhead Tarn.
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| David at Styhead Tarn |
From Sty Head we continued South - South West along the Corridor Route
When we reached the top at 977m we were soon followed by a group that were on the challenge and they had come up from Wasdale Head. Talking to the group who had reached the top first we found they were the guides, they had lost a number of other walkers. When I say lost I mean people had dropped out following the Ben Nevis stage, not necessarily lost on the hills. They told us they were already a number of hours off reaching the target but they were still going to carry on.
We took the same route back down as we had taken walking up, passing more people walking up. Some on the challenge others just out for the day. Even a fell runner who passed us on his way up then in a few minutes he passed us on his way back down.
On reaching the campsite we found Anne missing, she had talked about staying in bed or having a walk down the road. It turned out that after a walk down the road she had even walked up the track and went up as far as Styhead Tarn. When she turned up she was talking to a gent who was looking at the hills reminiscing, he was telling Anne when he was younger he used to run up and down these hills. Now unfortunately he struggled to walk on the flat with a stick. What a shame just an example on live it and do it when you can, you don't know when it will stop.
We had covered approx 16km with 996m of climb.
We packed the car with all the kit, our make do tent/gazebo and set off for Wales. On the way David directed us to a place near Ambleside where he had stopped earlier in the year, for our breakfast. It was nice and set us up for the rest of the day.
The drive to Wales was uneventful, Anne and David again had a good sleep, poor things they must have been so tired. Apart from when I was getting short of fuel, which Anne and David thought was funny, nothing else happened.
At Betws-y-coed we tried getting into a campsite but they would not take us in. They did us a favour as we then found a brilliant place to stop, Swallow Falls Complex a campsite attached to a pub. Good food and a good place to stay, hope we can come back here again. In the bar we got to talk to a lad who was riding around on a motor bike and he was testing his bike and camping gear for a trip around Europe he was planning to do later in the year. He was doing a bike ride around Europe where he was hoping to make money for a local charity through sponsorship.
Anyway after a few drinks it was back to the tent and into bed, late as usual.
More to follow
Boz North
Details correct at time of walking.
If you have enjoyed reading my walk or found it useful you may also like to read other walks I have done on The 3 Peaks or other areas. Please check out the links on the right hand side.
Follow link to previous - Day 1 Ben Nevis
Follow link to next - Day 3 Snowdon
Follow link to time I walked the National 3 Peaks Challenge
The Bourne Coffee Company previously Caer Urfa Coffee Company.
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