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[unaccus]tomed nerves, though there is no real danger. It
was in trying the other ridge, (which it is always
fool-hardy to do,) that Charles Gough fell from the
precipice, where his corpse was watched by his dog for two
months, till it was found. Every one knows the story, as
told by Wordsworth and Scott. There are stakes near the tarn
where horses are fastened, and then there is a steep
scramble to the top.
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There are precipices on the east of the summit; but its
mossy plain slopes gently towards the west. No mountain in
the district is, we believe, so often climbed. Its central
situation renders the view attractive on every account; it
is very conspicuous; and it is not difficult of ascent.
According to the Ordnance Surveyors, its height is 3,055
feet above the level of the sea; that is, 33 feet higher
than Skiddaw, and rather more than 100 feet lower than
Scawfell Pike. There are three modes of ascent from the
Grasmere side;- the one by Grisedale Tarn: another from
Wythburn; and a third further on from Legberthwaite. The one
from Wythburn is the shortest, but by much the steepest,-
the track beginning at once to climb the hill opposite the
Nag's Head. The gushing stream which crosses the mail road
near the Nag's Head comes down from Brownrigg's well,- the
spring which refreshes the traveller on his way up or down,-
bursting from the mountain side within 300 yards of the
summit. There are two cairns on two summits, not far apart,
from between which, in an angle in the hill, the best view
to the north is obtained. These Men, (as such piles
of stones are called) mark the
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