Three Peaks: England

This is a cautionary tale. It's the story of an Englishman (well, men - plus a Hungarian, Dutch-Canadian & Welsh-Scot actually...) who went up a mountain and came back disappointed. It was the moment when "Three Peaks" became "Two & Nine Tenths Peaks"...

Day two, after a very late meal the previous night, we tackled Scafell Pike - the tallest peak in England at 947m high. Nestled amongst a web-like network of similar peaks up in the Lake District, Scafell makes for a very spectacular climb - once you get to it. We started up the valley along the river before this became a deep gully with steep sides. After the procession of the previous day, it made a lovely change that we were passed by few other climbers - even less still that were running it! Towards the top of the valley we were joined by a very talkative Canadian couple but when we reached a fork in the path we took the more gradual climbing left path while they went up and right.

It was still pretty hard going but this day's climbing was definitely less intense and it gave us the confidence boost we needed to keep going on. At the top we reached a ridge and a small shelter and stopped for a break to get out of the wind and assess the increasingly large amounts of damp cloud closing in. The map suggested you drop down from the ridge and climb Scafell on the other side so we turned left along the ridge before doing just as instructed. This was particularly tough climbing as this ascent seemed extremely steep and like it was going on forever. At the top, surrounded by thick cloud, we stopped to eat lunch, confident (although unsighted) that Scafell Pike, was just beyond the peak.

However, as we continued on through the gloom, our confidence was draining a little and once we came across some fellow climbers we decided to get a location check. It was not good news...

"Excuse me, how far is it to Scafell Pike?"
"Scafell? Um, about 2 hours from here..."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep, if we could see right now, Scafell would be right over there" (pointing far in to the distance)
So, where are we then?" (slightly panicking now)
"This is Bow Fell. We reckon you could probably back-track from here but it'll be at least an extra two hours. With this weather, you might get stuck up here. Have you got equipment with you for staying overnight?"
"Er, no...

It was far from the news we wanted to hear. We were left with the choice of doubling back - which at best, would mean not getting to our overnight accommodation until the early hours of the morning and at worst, could mean getting stranded and needing rescue - and heading down again defeated. We had climbed at least two peaks around 900m tall but the one we set out for. Our map reader took it hardest but we all acknowledged that there had been signs we all could have picked up on and were still very impressed with ourselves for getting this far.

The descent was a decidedly downbeat affair - like the journey home for a fan after a footballing defeat. No matter how well you had played, you had still been on the wrong end of the result. Just to rub it in, it started to rain as we retraced our steps. Back at the shelter, it all became clear that we "zigged when we should have zagged" and to make matters worse, we met the Canadian couple on their way back down, full of tales of their victorious ascent of Scafell...

On reflection as we approached the valley on the way down, we all acknowledged that it had still been quite some achievement - regardless of the navigational miscalculation. I know that spirits would have been higher if we had completed Scafell but we had still climbed up into the highest region in our English homeland, despite the complex network of pathways and unfavourable weather patterns. Another daunting and dizzying section of the UK countryside had been conquered and none of us had enough energy to indulge our regrets. By now, lower legs and knees were beginning to throb and we still had a further 4+ hours of car journey to face. Next stop: Caernarfon and the North Wales coast and preparation for day three...

[I was taking part in the Three Peaks in order to raise money for Urban Saints and you can still give towards this by visiting my fundraising page. Many thanks!]