A dazzling sun rose over the Lake District of Northern England. It found us at Brook House Inn, Boot Village, where we had overnighted. After having hiked to Stickle Tarn the previous day, now it was time to climb Scafell Pike: England’s highest mountain.
While we had breakfast downstairs in the hotel lobby, a murky cloud appeared out of nowhere and showered generously the green pastures of the valley. The sun, in the meanwhile, kept shining profusely from the eastern horizon. The rain was soon gone. We shouldered our backpacks and began striding towards the top of England.
The first part of the route from Boot to Scafell Pike runs along the western slope of the gully containing the Whillian Beck River. The trail is straightforward to follow and ascends smoothly to a scenic lake known as Burnmoor Tarn. Unlike the previous day at Stickle Tarn, and despite what I expected, here people were rather scarce. We only encountered a couple of small hiker parties.
We had a brief break at the lakeshore to appropriately marvel at the area’s beauty and enjoy its quietude. Then we moved on.
The clouds had grown thicker by then but, fortunately, not a single drop fell throughout the whole day. There were only intervals of gloom and brilliance as the various clouds traversed the sky.
We hiked along the eastern shore of Burnmoor Tarn and got on the trail leading northwest, straight to Scafell Pike. That runs through the bog along with Hardrigg Gill River. We had to meander a good deal to avoid the muddiest parts, jump over some becks, and regardless, wade through the soft mud at midcalf level at times. The ground got firmer as we reached the slope and began the ascent.
It was a beautiful trek. The more impressive the views became the higher we climbed. Wast Water Lake was rendered visible to the west and its surface glistened goldenly under the periodical sunshine. Various remote peaks, as well as the Irish Sea in the distance, appeared within view as we were getting closer to the peak.
The last part of the ascent was rather steep and zigzagged over scree and rock. Chilly gusts bashed the lonely summit. Patches of snow and hail had accumulated here and there.
Eventually, we made it to the southwest peak of Scafell Pike. That is located at 54.4475, -3.2247 and reaches an elevation of 964 metres. The actual summit of Scafell Pike is about a mile to the northeast (54.4542, -3.2115) at an altitude of 978 metres. To get from one peak to the other, one has to descend down to the col between them and up again. That’s exactly what we originally planned to do but we were running out of time. We had started quite late from Boot and didn’t provide for a torch. It would get dark pretty soon and we’d need around two hours to hike back and forth between the two peaks. With a slight disappointment, we headed straight down south the trail along the ridge to an outcrop named Slight Side.
This part of the route offered the best views, which the oblique sunlight embellished even further. We went past the Slight Side and down the slope. We paused briefly on midslope and lay on the grass to watch a most delightful sunset.
We continued down and, accompanied by a mild twilight, trudged across the soggy bog. We went past two little lakes, Stony Tarn and Eel Tarn (I wonder whether there could be eels in there for real), of which the surfaces we barely managed to discern through the dusk, until we finally treaded on asphalt at the purlieu of Boot. The darkness was strict and heavy by the time we entered the pub.
Photo Gallery
View (and if you want use) all my photographs from Scafell Pike.
Boot to Scafell Pike Route Map
Accommodation and Activities in The UK
Stay22 is a handy tool that lets you search for and compare stays and experiences across multiple platforms on the same neat, interactive map. Hover over the listings to see the details. Click on the top-right settings icon to adjust your preferences; switch between hotels, experiences, or restaurants; and activate clever map overlays displaying information like transit lines or concentrations of sights. Click on the Show List button for the listings to appear in a list format. Booking via this map, I will be earning a small cut of the platform's profit without you being charged any extra penny. You will be thus greatly helping me to maintain and keep enriching this website. Thanks!
