The 12 Peaks Challenge

The 12 peaks challenge was successful just to let you know first of all.

I am going to write each day out in sections so you can break it down into bits. I’ll try not to go on for too long, but I had an exciting time and have lots to write about.

I first had the idea to going up the highest 10 of  ‘Walking Englishman's’ list of England's Highest Mountains. I would carry a backpack with all my food and camping equipment just like usual and wild camp on the way. Looking at the map this route looked very manageable which was part of the reason why I decided to do it. Since then I learned about the 10 highest Wainwrights these didn’t include Lower Man, Broad Crag or Ill Crag because of their small prominence, but instead included Nethermost Pike, Catstye Cam and Pillar. To do these three would involve a lot more walking just to get to them. I decided the best way to do this was to merge the two lists together which lead to a total of 13 peaks, the ten Wainwrights with the 2 crags and Lower Man as extra. I then bought a Wainwright Hill Chart from ‘Guideus’ and looking at it realized it wouldn’t be too much more work to do the 11th and 12th highest Wainwrights on the way. So to sum things up I was doing the top 12 Wainwrights and what many people would class as the top 15 peaks in the Lake District, which if it wasn’t for Cross Fell in the North Pennines would be the 15 highest in the country. This manageable trip now looked like a tough challenge and I was beginning to wonder whether I would manage it at all.

Day 1

Bowfell Summit

I was dropped off in Langdale at 10:20 and after saying goodbye to Dad I set off up the Band to get to Bowfell, the 6th highest fell of my challenge and the 6th highest in the country. When I got to the three tarns area where Crinkle Crags and the Band both stop to give way to the magnificent Bowfell I couldn’t help notice a camera crew of 2 men with a man possibly in his 60’s being filmed going up. One thing I heard him say to the camera was “You can see why they’re called ‘Three Tarns’.” This was all said while filming me walking up. When I got to where the man was standing he said “Good Heavens! That’s a heavy load, I suppose you have to be young.” I couldn’t help but ask him “Will I be on the telly walking up there then?” and he replied “Probably, it depends if you choose the right channel.” This guy struck me as the kind of person I should recognize off other TV programs but I didn’t, so I just spoke to him like anyone else on the fells. When I walked up a bit further I saw two ‘fix the fells’ people and I recognized one of them off Julia Bradbury’s Scafell Pike episode. I felt particularly odd at this point I had set off for a week of walking through the Lake District on my own. Now I know just as well as anyone else how busy the Lakes can get at this time of year, but I hadn’t been walking 2 hours yet and I was feeling star struck with the hope of a television appearance. 

Great End - South-east Gully

Scafell Pike Summit

After summiting Bowfell I then went on to Esk Pike, no.11 of the Wainwrights. My knee was a bit achey at this point but nothing to worry about. I had started using the technique of taking a picture of my brand new NB baseball cap on the summit cairn to show I had been there when I got back. I did this on every summit throughout the week and it feels like a good bit of evidence to back up my success, not that I am likely to need it. I then went down into Esk Hause and up Great End I had read in the Wainwright guide at home about an ascent up one of the gullies and made a mental note to check them out next time I was on the summit. I looked at one and thought it could be doable but would probably choose to do it with out the weight I was carrying and possibly with a friend, (it is very difficult to find a committed outdoors partner though). After Great End I went on to Ill Crag. I was the only one on it which I find a bit of a shame considering it has amazing views of the River Esk running down into the valley where Cam Spout is. However it is always nice to know that there are places to go for those of us who love that feeling of peace and wilderness. I then went across to Broad Crag where again there was nobody around. Out of the two crags I prefer Ill Crag but would Broad Crag would probably offer good shelter from the wind if you wanted to have lunch there. It was then up to Scafell Pike the highest in the country. This was my 4th time on this fell and I was pleased to see Blackpool Tower and the Isle of Man to back up the rumors.

I had the remainders of my lunch on Scafell Pike before heading up to Sca Fell; England’s 2nd highest mountain. 

Sca Fell Summit

Great Gable - On a Great Day

I was at the base of Gable just after 7 o’clock and headed up at a reasonable pace for this time of day to be on the summit just before 8 o’clock. On it were two very friendly fell runners admiring the view. One took a photo for me before they descended. I rang Mum and Dad before heading down myself and setting up camp on the col between Great Gable and Kirk Fell.

Day 2

Great Gable and last nights camping spot
from the path up to Kirk Fell

Pillar Summit

I woke up at 7:50 and had overslept. I unpitched and made breakfast with the intention to set off as quick as I could in order to get a good start to the day. After doing Great Gable last night instead I wasn’t as concerned about whether I’d manage to complete the days route. Today was more about getting over to the Helvellyn range, but I would have to do Pillar as part of my 12 peaks and on the way didn’t see any harm in doing Kirk fell and Haystacks as well. It wasn’t long before I was on the summit of Kirk Fell, as I was camped on the col already some height up it. After taking a photo or two I headed down off the fell and up towards Pillar. The first half of today’s route was very much like my first solo backpacking trip in Easter. I didn’t plan this deliberately it just turned out that way. The only difference was I did the traverse along Pillar instead of going to the summit. I was on Pillar at a decent time so rang home. I couldn’t get a signal it appeared but apparently Dad could hear me although I couldn’t hear Dad. I planned to scramble down onto the traverse and then descend off that through the forest but I couldn’t find the right way down so just went back off Pillar the way I came and on to Black Sail Pass. Quite often on these trips I do, where I’m carrying a heavy pack in hot weather I feel dehydrated. I have improved this by getting a filter bottle which means I don’t have to boil my water. However it still takes a while to get the water out of the filter so I often only drink when I feel particularly thirsty. Coming along Black Sail Pass it wasn’t long before I came upon the Youth Hostel. There were plenty of people sat outside it and I asked one of them if there was any drinking water inside. He said that there was and the facilities were open to non-residents as well so I could even make a brew if I left a donation. I went inside and filled up my bottle to the brim and drank it on the spot, then I filled it up again and drunk it just as quickly, before filling it up again to take with me up to Haystacks. I couldn’t help notice the cosy feeling this old shepherd's bothy had. The small dining room was full of old chairs and the Kitchen had many great facilities, yet it still has it’s old feel. I think that I might stay there sometime in the winter so I don’t have to buy a warmer sleeping bag in order to camp. 

Black Sail Hut

I then headed up towards Haystacks, Wainwright’s final resting place. It really is very unique. Although its very safe, you have to make use of the handholds in order to get to the top. Then there is a whole fell full of life to look at. It looks the perfect place to camp and one day I’ll camp there but seeing as it didn’t fit in with my route I stopped by Blackbeck tarn to have lunch (dehydrated Beef Stroganoff), heading down to Honister Hause Slate Mine where I had an ice cream and bought a chocolate rice crispy cake. The place itself looked quite remarkable. It has a Via Ferrata course there and guided slate mine tours. It looks like the kind of place you can spend the day quite easily. I then joined onto the Allerdale Ramble for a short length of time before heading into Rosthwaite where I rewarded my body with water and cola before heading up to Watendlath and finally to Blea Tarn where I would camp for the night. Blea Tarn is a fantastic tarn. It is probably one of the biggest in the Lake District although not as visited as Sprinkling Tarn or Styhead due to its remote location. When I arrived there were a group of girls there who had set up camp. They looked like they were on a D of E trip or something. When they saw me arrive they looked concerned. I waved but no one waved back. “Are You alright?” One of them shouted “Yes.” I replied.

Blea Tarn

“Are you on your own?” another asked “Yes,” I said “Why?” What did they mean by that? Why wouldn’t I be on my own! I hesitated for a moment before replying, “I just.....do. Seeya!” I then went off to the other end of the tarn and after putting up with the midges while having tea, I went to sleep.

Day 3

I got up at 07:30 and packed up. I didn’t have breakfast because I couldn’t put up with all the bites I was getting. I set off for Thirlmere stopping to clean my teeth and zip off into my shorts which I deliberately didn’t do until I was far from the midges. I walked along the shore of Thirlmere reservoir before crossing the busy road and heading up to Nethermost Pike. I hadn’t had much to drink and a lot of the streams marked on the map had dried up.

Helvellyn - Red Tarn

Raise Summit

When I got to Nethermost Pike I was unsure of the summit. I had a quick stroll onto High Crag before finding out that it wasn’t the right one and then went back onto Nethermost Pike to do the whole cap on the cairn thing. The views of Striding Edge from it’s southern side were quite magnificent. I then went over onto Helvellyn, where taking my cap off the cairn nearly knocked the whole thing over. I then went down by Red Tarn to fill myself up with water before heading up to Catstye Cam and ringing Mum and Dad for a quick conversation. I then went onto Lower Man, the last of those fells which aren’t always classed as fells. My final peak of the day was Raise the smallest out of the peaks in the challenge. The Summit itself was very nice and had a beautiful cairn. I descended down towards Shoulthwaite. My bad knee was really starting to cause me grief. It was aching on almost every step and I was overtaken by a couple with trekking poles. I was concerned at this point as I had done all of the peaks in my challenge apart from one, Skiddaw. This was no time to give up! I stopped and seeing as I was on my own I had a good, stern word with my knee basically saying I was going to go up Skiddaw even if I needed to replace it when I came back down, so making descents painful wasn’t going to put me off any. When I got to Shoulthwaite I realized that when planning the route I hadn’t really thought about following paths and had relied on my navigational skills to get me across random fields up to the Castlerigg Fell area. This was easier said than done as it involved certain bits of fence hopping and I was carrying 15kg. Also I lost where I was for a while after switching maps, but when I found out where I was I hand railed along a stream and a few fences and ended up camping not far from Walla Crag. After pitching my tent and having my tea, I put my fleece on and walked over to Walla Crag where I sat watching the sun set over Keswick and Skiddaw with a strong signal to have a nice long conversation with my parents. My knee was feeling better and I was confident I would make it up Skiddaw the next day.

Camping on the Final Night

Day 4

Keswick in the morning

I woke up at 7 o’clock. For the first time on this whole trip the clouds were showing signs that rain was inevitably coming. I headed down into Keswick where I bought breakfast at Greggs, expecting to have a nice change from the rubbish I’d been eating over the past 3 days. It wasn’t much better, but it gave me a lot of good energy that helped lift my spirits, and at least the hot chocolate was nice. I then bought some water and headed out of Keswick and up to the car park at Latrigg. I could feel the joy of completing the challenge already and after a final lot of hard work I reached the summit of Skiddaw and rang home in celebration. There was a couple on the summit and one took a photo of me.

Skiddaw summit - A Success!!!

My challenge was now a success and I felt the trip had given me plenty of great moments with very few bad ones. I felt I could finally say I had done something to make note of. I descended into Keswick in about 1 hour and was happy to see my Dad who looked just as happy with a slight concern to how wet and tired I looked, so he took me straight into a pub and watched me wolf down a Steak and Ale pie with Chips, while I spoke to him about the last few days. We then looked around Keswick for a bit and I bought a very interesting book from Oxfam. It seems to be a first edition of John Hunt’s ‘The Ascent of Everest’. This was written in a month and published in 1953 the same year as the ascent. John Hunt was the expedition leader. I haven’t really started reading it yet but it looks really interesting with photos of the trip and a first hand account of all the dedication and organization involved in it.

If by any chance you enjoyed reading this entry then please look out for my next one about the Picos de Europa. It is a family holiday so I will make sure I spend most of it with Mum and Dad doing things together but I should hopefully get the opportunity to get out of our cottage and head up some of the fantastic mountains in the area some of which are over 2500 metres, though I won’t be doing too many of them!

Thanks for Reading

Ethan