Caught the 06:00am bus to Preston, £3.60 ticket. It arrived on time and after I’d walked across town to the rail station I noticed the 06:40 Glasgow train was just arriving so I caught it instead of the 07:14. It would get me to Penrith much earlier than I’d planned but I had a good book and wasn’t bothered by the wait. I was in Penrith shortly after 7:30 and sat in the waiting room. I perused the bus timetables and noticed a bus leaving for Keswick at 8:02. If I caught it I’d be able to get to my final destination of Seatoller an hour earlier than planned, even though I’d have to pay as I wouldn’t be able to use my bus pass. As I sat there Doug Scott walked into the waiting room from the car park side. He was with a woman with a case on wheels and Doug had a small rucksack on his back. I didn’t think it polite to start a conversation as he was buying tickets for what looked like the London train. So I left him in peace.

Arriving in Penrith

On the bus to Seatoller

I was out for the bus and bought a £5.35 ticket to Keswick. It turned out that it would also be the Honister bus that leaves Keswick and goes round by Buttermere. In Keswick there was over half an hour to wait so the bus driver let me stay on the bus while he went off for a cup of tea. The bus was due to leave at 9:20 and as there is a stop at Cat Bells at 9:31 I reasoned that if I bought a ticket that far I could then use my bus pass thereafter. The driver said not. There seems to be a tightening on bus pass policy and he said if the journey starts before 9:30 I had to pay full price for the whole journey. I wasn’t too bothered as it was only £3:15 but there were a lot of senior citizens getting on and they were mostly going to Buttermere and had to pay in the region of £5 each. By the time we reached Grange-in-Borrowdale the bus was full with several people standing.

One thing I hadn’t realised was that I could have bought an Explorer bus ticket for my first bus of the day and with a bus pass it would only have cost £5.90 and given me access to all the buses in Lancashire and Cumbria for one day. The three buses I’ve used today have cost me more than twice that.
I got off at Seatoller around 9:52 and set off along the road towards Seathwaite. There was high cloud but I was able to see the distant summits. Heading along the side road I came to a walker who was picking up rubbish and putting it in a bin liner. We started to chat and it turned out he had retired to Keswick and part of his time was being a volunteer rubbish collector. I complemented him for his work and we continued chatting all the way to Seathwaite and through the farm buildings.

The first aid box at Styhead Pass

Camp on Great End with
the Langdales in the background.

I mentioned to him that I’d seen Doug Scott at Penrith railway station who was the first Englishman to summit Everest and he told me he’d seen Stephen Venables, the first Englishman to summit Everest without supplementary oxygen, giving his Shackleton lecture in Keswick on Tuesday. I told him I’d seen the same lecture in Derby last Thu. We said our goodbyes, shook hands and set off in opposite directions. I continued up the stony track towards Stockley Bridge. There was now light rain so I put my leggings on. Over the bridge a couple of tall 30ish walkers came charging by. Further up Styhead Gill I caught them up as they were sat on rocks while one seemed to be readjusting his socks. They said they were heading up the Corridor Route to Scafell Pike and Scafell. I wished them luck and continued to the first aid box at Styhead Pass.

I didn’t stop but turned left to head up towards ‘the Band’ up to Great End. When I set out I wasn’t sure where I’d be camping. The high gulleys of Great End had snow in them so I decided to camp as high as I could using snow as my water supply. The weather had brightened up and I got some good views on the climb. The first part is fairly gentle and mostly on grass but higher up it becomes all rock, boulders and quite steep in places. There were a couple of small springs on the way and some nice flat grassy patches for a tent but I don’t know how permanent the springs would be. The problem now was the wind which had been getting stronger all the way up. Just below the summit there was a snow field (water supply) and a flattish spot for a tent but I pressed on to investigate the summit.

Looking back towards Keswick.

Melting snow for water

It is mostly a flat plateau but the wind made it too dodgey for a pitch. I had a look at the east side where there may be shelter. I found a grassy patch a few metres down and a snowfield nearby but it was still very windy. I pitched the tent and spent a very noisy afternoon and evening as the tent buffeted, whipped and cracked in the gusting winds. Even though it was very windy I had some nice views down the Langdales and across to Keswick, even though high dark clouds moved menacingly overhead.