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The ascent of Scawfell is sometimes made from the Sty Head
Pass; sometimes from Lingmell; and sometimes from Langdale,
whence the path meets that from Sty Head on Esk Hause. From
Esk Hause the summit of the Pike is visible; but still, care
is necessary not to ascend the wrong summit. There are four
summits which collectively go under the name of Scawfell;
viz, the most southerly, which is called simply Scawfell;
Scawfell Pike, which is sixty feet higher, and the highest
mountain in England (3,160 feet:) and the lower hills,
Lingmell and Great End,- the last being the northernmost,
and fronting Borrowdale. The Ordnance surveyors set up a
staff on a pile of stones on the highest peak; so that there
need be no mistake henceforth. The two summits are about
three-quarters of a-mile apart, in a straight line; but the
great chasm between them, called Mickledore, renders a wide
circuit necessary. There have been fool-hardy persons who
have passed Mickledore without losing their lives; and there
are strangers, almost every season, who attempt the ascent
without a guide. These last usually pay the penalty of their
rashness in hours of uneasy wandering and excessive fatigue.
When they think they see their way clearly enough, they are
pretty sure to find themselves brought up on the verge of a
chasm, and com-
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