Route: Sty Head
Area: Southern Lake District
Date of walk: 30th December 2014
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 7.5 miles
Ascent: 2,100 feet
Weather: Misty on tops, snow on higher ground, mostly overcast
I had hoped that this page could be entitled ‘Esk Pike and Great End’, since those two fells were my intended destination today. When I started this site in January 2013 it was my ambition to have a link to a walk up all of the 214 lakeland fells within two years, and Esk Pike and Great End were the only ones left
I set off from Seathwaite and folllowed the wonderful path uphill along the side of Grains Gill. As I gained height, Great End came into view – or rather didn’t, since the top was shrouded in mist. After much internal debate, and after almost reaching Esk Hause, I decided to give the fells a miss, as I can’t see the point of walking when there’s nothing to see, a shame when I’d done the donkey work and wasn’t far from the summits
I retraced my steps to the top of the Grains Gill path and walked past Sprinkling Tarn, then on to Sty Head. This well known mountain pass looked very dramatic, surrounded as it is by some of lakeland’s grandest fells
I then followed the path alongside Styhead Gill back to Seathwaite. Although I hadn’t accomplished my mission, I’d still had a great walk in wonderful scenery, so had no regrets at all
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
The start of the walk at Seathwaite
Seathwaite
Heading up the valley
Seathwaite Fell as the sun starts to rise
Stockley Bridge - the path forks here and I follow the Grains Gill path
Looking up Grains Gill
Allen Crags
The awesome cliff face of Great end comes into view, and this is where I began to entertain doubts about going to the summit
Looking back to Borrowdale and Castle Crag
No sign of the mist clearing from Great End
Looking back down the path
The route to Sty Head lies to the right, but I hadn’t abandoned Plan A yet, and decided to turn left to Esk Hause
The icy and very slippery path to Esk Hause
More murk, and it was here that I decided to abandon all thoughts of the climb, and to descend to Sty Head, a worthy objective in itself
South East gully and Central Gully as I walk past the imposing face of Great End
Sprinkling Tarn
Styhead Tarn at the foot of Great Gable
Piers Gill leading up to Scafell Pike
The stretcher box at Sty Head
A fellow walker heading for Sty Head as I start to descend down the valley
I walk past Styhead Tarn
Styhead Tarn and its outflow, Styhead Gill
Footbridge over Styhead Gill
Borrowdale comes into view
Crags at the foot of Base Brown
Seathwaite and Borrowdale
Almost down to valley level, at which point I rejoin the Grains Gill path
As the walk nears its end, the weather starts to improve
Looking back to Seathwaite Fell……
....and again
Back to Seathwaite
A final look back to Seathwaite as I arrive back at the start
Later that day, a red squirrel in the garden
