The mist rolled in but the wind stayed reasonable and the tent didn’t get another battering. I thought the walkers would all be in bed but I was woken around 3:30am by the noise of more people on the summit. Even as I was packing my stuff away at 06:30am there were people on the summit. I was packed up by 06:45am and walked past the summit trig point but everyone had gone. There was thick mist so I had no views and had to follow the rock cairns to find the way down.

Scafell Pike trig point and cairn in the mist.

Looking back to Wasdale from the Corridor Route

Even with a well used path it isn’t always easy to follow it in mist. I had to keep an eye on the compass as there are a couple of branches taking different descent routes and I wanted to finish up on the Corridor Route. Eventually I came to a flatter stretch of path then the deep dark chasm of Piers Gill descending into darkness. I little further ahead I was out of the mist and had a view of Styhead Pass ahead. The summit had been just above freezing at 2degC but now it had warmed up a bit and I stopped to take a layer off. I reached the pass and continued straight down to Styhead Tarn where quite a few tents were pitched. There was still low cloud as I reached Stockley Bridge and I checked my watch to see if there was any chance of catching the first bus at Seatoller.

It was due to leave at 09:55am and it would be very close. I’d prefer to miss a bus by 10minutes than 1. As I walked quickly along the lane I realised I would probably reached the end of the lane only to see the bus just setting off. When I did reach the end of the lane the bus was still waiting at the turning circle and it had just gone 09:55. I rushed along the last stretch expecting the bus door to close just as I approached them but I just made it. I began to wonder if the rush was worthwhile as we were due in to Keswick at 10:23 and the Perith bus was due to leave at 10:20, three minutes earlier. As it turned out the Penrith bus was a bit late and a long queue of people were waiting to get on, so I made it. At Penrith Railway Station I had a pleasant wait until the 11:45 Manchester train arrived.

Campers at Styhead Tarn