Old Cumbria Gazetteer - Scafell Pike: ascent 1900


included in:-	Scafell Pike, Eskdale
	Scafell Pike: ascent 1900
civil parish:-	Eskdale (formerly Cumberland)
county:-	Cumbria
locality type:-	hill
locality type:-	historic ascent
coordinates:-	NY21550722
1Km square:-	NY2107
10Km square:-	NY20
altitude:-	3205 feet
altitude:-	977m

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag
source data:-	Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922. goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.357 "..." "A different side, as well as aspect, of the country has been rendered familiar by mountain ascents at night. For our last - a climb of Scawfell Pike - we left Windermere at seven o'clock and strolled on to Elterwater, near which we stayed till after eleven. Then, under light of a pale half-moon, we plodded into Langdalehead. My brother was suffering from tender feet, so after picking a way among the rough cobbles to the foot of Rossett Ghyll, he called a halt till the light should allow our getting an easier path. Then, taking off his boots, he went to sleep for an hour and a half. This place was very quiet, yet it seemed that its very silence had a basis of sound, for inarticulate whispers and murmurings rolled up the dale, and more than once I patrolled the sheepfold, inside and out, to make sure no one was near. By half-past two we were able to proceed towards Eskhause. Angle Tarn was passed still in the shadow, and we only caught the sunshine streaming through a break in the mist-banks when a long way up the pass. A strong westerly wind drove grey cloud-masses among the distant northern mountains. For a moment Helvellyn would break itself clear of the whirling mist; Skiddaw and Saddleback seemed to revel in the reek, occasionally throwing up a summit or a shoulder as though to mark their whereabouts. Not till the shelter at the pass's head was reached could anything be seen of the mountains beyond Styehead. Then we turned from a view of Bowfell, rising supreme through a sunlit patch of mist, to see Great Gable mounting in grand outlines into the masses which, as smoke from a volcano, seemed rolling out of Ennerdale. The fells beyond and around Honister were visible, but in a few moments the white cloud-tide eclipsed them. Would this wind-swept stream envelop Scawfell Pike before we could reach it? As we toiled into view of the crags this seemed very likely. After a drink from the infant Esk, we passed into Ill Crag. The path for about a hundred yards wound among huge blocks of rocks, and striding from one to another of these we continued the climb."

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag 1900
source data:-	goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.358 "Between the distant Catbells and the nearer Great End was a splendid vista of Borrowdale with Derwentwater - a well of green, on which floated several darker patches. A sullen waste of water among savage, rocky mountains - the older guide-book writers would have described Styehead Tarn. The Gables stood in a mighty wall across the valley, their foot in depths unseen, their summits now wreathed in swirling cloud. The crest a few seconds ago sheered clear and bright, but a wave of mist overcame it. On Broad Crag we again encountered the horrible pave of oblong blocks piled at all angles, for which this range is notorious. As we got along the ridge - and though laborious, the pace was fast - Wastwater came into view over Lingmell Crags, and we then saw that the Pike, the highest summit in England, was clear of mist. For the last hour a steady drizzling rain had been falling, and we had been wet through for some time, but we faced that last loose slope eagerly. The boulders round the summit attest to patience and ingenuity, for level paths have been made to the half-score low shelters dotted among the crags. From this point we got our only tolerable view of the west. The cauldron of Ennerdale still poured its vapour over Great Gable to roll in long irregular volumes eastward, but through the gap of Wastwater was a darker band - the Irish Sea. At the most favourable moment, almost the whole coast-line from St. Bees to the Lune was in view. Wide expanses of glittering sands marked the estuaries of Kent, Leven, and Duddon, but further out a dense blue mist shut out all possibilities of the view of Man, Ireland, Scotland, and Snowdonia, for which this peak is famous. We did not stay long by the cairn, as at any moment the western breeze might whip an outlying cloud over us; indeed, we had not gone more than halfway towards Broad Crag when this did happen. It was, however, so thin that we hunted saxifrages among the rocks, and had a look down Piers Ghyll before going on. What a tremendous gulf this is! Half a mile down was the main gully, with a few of its cliffs, tiny with distance, visible. Crossing the crags to Great End was an easier task than before, and soon after half-past five we were near Eskhause. Just as we entered the basin of Angle Tarn a big black raven wheeled past with a threatening croak. I made towards the crags it had left, imagining I heard the cries of young, but the sound evaded me. The parent, however, was marked by my brother, who, through his field glasses, distinctly saw it enter a gully in the crags of Pike o' Stickle, and even so distant its angry voice was plainly heard. ..."

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