Scafell Pike: Wasdale Head route
We had wanted to walk up Scafell Pike for a long time, but as always when we visited the Lake District we found ourselves wound up with plans that included visiting the towns or mountains on the other side of the national park completely. Scafell Pike is located quite a way into the Lake District, down a very long road which leads only to the mountain walks and a pub, the Wasdale Head Inn. The drive to and from the starting point of the hike up Scafell Pike is a long way off (around an hour from the M6 each way), and so combined with the hike you need to set aside a good part of a day to tackle it.
At 978m high, Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England, which makes it very popular for hiking. It is also part of the three peaks challenge and the Wasdale Head route is the most popular which can make it very busy. An early start is essential to avoid seeing too many people on the hike.
In September, Tom had scheduled an ultra run for his birthday weekend and it was taking place in the Lake District. The weather didn’t look great, but I asked him if he wasn’t too exhausted if we could do Scafell Pike the same weekend, after his run.
Monday rolled around and he felt fine to undertake the hike, so off we went at around 5am to drive the 1.5 hours from our accommodation to the car park at the start of the hike. We decided to do the Wasdale Head route, as it was the most straightforward and it was our first time on the mountain. This hike starts at the National Trust car park which cost £9 to park for the day - note! - they take coins only, so either have the correct amount, or go into the little shop to pay on your way back to the car (it won’t be open when you park if you start the hike as early as we did!).
A misty day for mountaineering
Start/end point: National Trust car park by Wastwater
Average duration: 4-5 hours return (it took us 3 hours out and back)
Distance: 10km return
When to go: Year round - be careful of snow/heavy rain in winter
Difficulty: Moderate (categorised as hard/strenuous by the national park)
Maps/Info: The walking route is signposted to begin with, with the first couple of kilometres a path which is easy to follow - there are several sets of stairs/stone steps
Information provided by the national park:
https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/things-to-do/walking/routes-and-maps/routes-and-maps2/map-8
All Trails provides a great downloadable map which will sync onto Google maps/Maps me/other formats as required:
The start of the hike, Scafell Pike completely hidden in cloud
The hike:
We arrived at the National Trust car park in the dark on a misty morning in late September. It was around 6.30am, and there were no other cars or people around. We didn’t have the correct coins to pay for the parking (£9!) so we left a note on our windscreen and decided we would pay when we returned once the shop was open. There are facilities in the car park - toilets and water filling stations.
The start of the walk was easy, it was fairly flat and well signposted. After a kilometre the walk increased in incline and the gravel track began to incorporate steep steps and rocks to climb up. We continued on, in harmonious silence, hiking up quite vertical sections of stairs, crossing the odd small bit of water, until a couple of kilometres into the hike we came to a rather large river crossing. It was light now - the sun was up, and working quite hard to burn off the mist but being eclipsed by a thick covering of cloud. At least we could see where we needed to cross. It was tricky to navigate at first but we hopped from big boulder to big boulder and made our way across the water safely, without getting wet feet!
The next section continued rather steeply again, the steps turning back into gravel track that was quite slippery in places due to the morning dew. Sheep covered the mountain as far as we could see - both sides of the track and all the way up, where the mountain summit was covered in cloud so was invisible to us. The sheep weren’t bothered by us at all and we said the odd hello to one or two so they weren’t frightened.
The path takes a few winding twists and turns as you get further up the mountain, and when we paused for breath the view behind us over Wastwater lake and the surrounding valleys was incredibly beautiful. Due to the time of year we visited there was an intense green and red hue to the landscape - autumn at it’s best.
Half way up the mountain you will come to another flatter section with huge boulders which you need to traverse, and when you come out the other side you will face the real difficulties of Scafell Pike - the rocky section. From here all the way to the summit is a rocky scramble, tricky to traverse and easy to roll an ankle on. Be careful of where you step and take care to go slower than other sections of the trail. Be aware of climbers/hikers in front and above you who could dislodge rocks and send them your way - ouch!
In this section of the hike, it can be easy to get lost if there is thick cloud cover near to the summit like when we visited. For the last hour of the walk the clouds were low and we could not see any views or find the path easily. We went off route a couple of times, realising we’d gone wrong and turning back each time. Once we found the final section of the hike - you can’t go much higher - we spotted the cairn at the top and made a beeline for it.
As you can see, there were no views from the summit on our visit, but it was still well worth it and we quickly made our descent as the low cloud and fog made it freezing cold.
On our way down once we got past the cloud we got the drone out and took a few cool shots, and spent a bit longer soaking in the scenery. We had a breakfast break on some of the larger boulders, before making our way back to the car and paying for our parking at the National Trust shop where the staff were very helpful!
We’ll be back, Scafell Pike..