Get Lost Mountaineering

Scafell & Slight Side via Lord's Rake & West Wall Traverse

from near Wasdale Head

Start/Finish

National Trust car park near the head of Wastwater. Drive along the road by the lake towards Wasdale Head. Once past the end of the lake, look for a rough road going right and over a girder bridge. Follow this for a short distance to the National Trust car park. Do not drive past the car park as the access is for private buildings and Mountain Rescue only. Parking is free for National Trust members.

Distance/Time

9 km      About 5 - 6 hours

Peaks

Symond's Knott, 959 m, NY 208 067.

Scafell, 964 m, NY 207 065.

Slight Side, 762 m, NY 210 050.     OS 90: Penrith & Keswick.     OL6 South Western Lakes

Introduction

This is a tough day which takes in England's second highest summit by a testing route. After heavy rainfall, the crossing of Lingmell Gill will be awkward and one may have to divert upstream to avoid wet feet as there is no bridge. In winter conditions, ice axe, crampons and winter experience will be needed for the upper part of this walk. The views are as good as they get so try to save this walk for a clear day. Lord's Rake is a scree gully and is awkward to ascend. It has three ups and two downs but it is left for the West Wall Traverse just below the top of the first up where there has been a rockfall and a large boulder/flake is lodged between the two side walls. In 2014, it had been lodged for about ten years but sooner or later, it will come down Lord's Rake so show appropriate caution in Lord's Rake. The West Wall Traverse is mainly a path which has a large drop, into Deep Gill, on its left but the path is never on the edge of this drop so it is not too intimidating.

Route

(1) From the car park, continue up the track to reach a bridge. Do not cross it but continue up with the stream on your right. Further on, pass a footbridge over the stream. Just beyond here, go through a gate. The main “tourist” path continues with the stream on the right. Follow this going through another gate a bit further on where the path from Wasdale Head joins from the left. Continue up until the crossing of Lingmell Gill is reached. Normally, this is easy, but after rain it may be necessary to divert upstream to avoid wet feet. Once across, continue up the obvious path for about 75- m to where the path splits into two equal looking paths. Take the right fork (straight on) and follow it up towards Mickledore – the dip between Scafell Pike and Scafell. The path is stepped much of the way. When the steps stop at a cairn some way short of Mickledore, look for a faint path going up the scree on the right. This goes up to the start of Lord's Rake which is not seen until its bottom is reached. It is a long scree gully with the perched boulder/flake at its top. Carefully, pick a way up this gully taking advantage of some holds on the side walls. About 4 m below the perched boulder/flake at the top of the first up, a faint path goes off left in a weakness in the rock wall on the left. This soon becomes an obvious path which ascends gradually below the buttress on its right and with a large drop into Deep Gill on the left. Eventually, the traverse meets the Deep Gill Gully which is then followed up. It is a little similar to Lord's Rake but much easier and less loose. Just before its top, the gully splits into two forks; follow either out of the gully but the left one is slightly easier. One is then on a “rim” around the top of Deep Gill Gull. On the right, is a top with large boulders below it. Pick a way up to reach a small cairn which is Symond's Knott, 959 m.

(2) Pick a way through the boulders, heading roughly SE, to reach a grassy area within which is a large stone cross of stones laid out on the ground. From here a path ascends easily to reach a small cairn, on an outcrop, which is the summit of Scafell, 964 m. There is a shelter cairn just beyond and a further, lower, cairn further still.

(3) Descend down the easy angled S ridge where a path is soon picked up which continues down the ridge, sometimes through easy scree, to reach a shallow grassy col. Go up the other side to reach two cairns about 30 m apart which are the highest points on Long Green. Continue along the ridge, descending then ascending up to the summit area of Slight Side which is a mixture of outcrop and “slabby” rock which is easily walked on when dry. There are two cairns about 30 m apart. The N one is the larger but only a small cairn and this seems to be the summit of Slight Side, 762 m. The second, S, cairn is tiny and seems to be lower. It would not take much bad weather to make this tiny cairn disappear.

(4) Continue down the crest for a short distance until the worst of the rocky areas are outflanked then leave the path (which goes into Upper Eskdale) and head W to NW down rough but easy grassy slopes which are mainly pathless. Lower down, some streams coming down wide gullies will be obvious to the right. Cross the first one met, Long Gill, and pick up a faint path which leaves the side of the gill and traverses roughly W. A reasonable path should soon be found. In Summer, this will go through ferns in places but the path is still there and leads to a more obvious path which is cairned and joins the track known as “The Old Corpse Road” which leads down to the National Trust car park, crossing a lovely little stone bridge on the way.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 10^th September, 2015.