Keswick and Scafell Pike (rest day)

It turned out to be a good idea to have booked a rest day after the tiring walk and climbing from Ennerdale Bridge to Stonethwaite. So what to do on a rest day in Borrowdale? As the weather was again very favourable I chose the 20km return trek up to Scafell Pike (England's highest peak at 978m) while the rest of the party opted for an outing to Keswick which offered some retail opportunities with great outdoor shops, some clothing shops and a visit to the Lakeland Pencil Museum (anyone remember those beautiful sets of Derwent coloured pencils?) This included the world's largest pencil, authenticated by the Guinness Book of Records.

Scafell Pike was a steady slog with not too many really steep sections although the final climb up the boulder strewn peak was enough to make you feel you'd earned it (unlike the casual stroll to the top of Mt Kosciuszko). With the cloud staying high there were some fine panoramic views from the top but perhaps the best views were from the nearby crags which offered more exposure to the steep valleys.

On top of Scafell Pike

On the advice of another walker - and there were plenty about in such good weather - I also paid a visit to Great End (901m). This did not seem like an auspicious name for a peak with abrupt 300m cliffs! He was also amused (and told me I was perpetuating the English image of Australians) that I should be using my "rest day" on the Coast to Coast walk to climb the highest mountain in England.

This however did not compare with the efforts of a chap I met on my way up. I asked him if he had already been up Scafell Pike so early in the day. He said not only had he done that, but last night he had climbed Ben Nevis (1344m and some 250 miles away in Scotland) and was planning to climb Snowdon (1085m and 200 miles way in Wales) later in the afternoon.

Some people have an ambition to climb the "three peaks" in a lifetime. Some, it appears, do it in a day!

Seathwaite