Millennium Eve on Scafell Pike • 2
Page One • Page Two
Looking south east, shortly before sunrise
Saturday, 1st January, 2000
At midnight, about a dozen of us sang Auld Lang Syne on the summit cairn, and people were sharing champagne as a girl passed sparklers around. Looking down on England I could see fireworks and lights all over. A man even stripped off naked for a photo at the trig point - the temperature was well below zero. Somebody said that on Ben Nevis there was a black-tie-only affair, (can anyone confirm that?). People drifted back to their camps - some even making the long trek back to Langdale, where the campsite was apparently full. I chatted for about an hour with a guy called Rob from Leeds, then at about two o'clock went back to my snowhole to sleep.
It was a cold night, but I wasn't too uncomfortable. I woke just after dawn and peeped out to see a blue sky. I realised I was going to see the first sunrise of the new Millenium. A man came over bearing coal and money (actually a match and a quid), and wished me a Happy New Year. I got up and grabbed the camera with was now working. I managed to get some photos of the sunrise.
The first sun of the new millennium peeps out over Wetherlam...
A couple of minutes later
The view north from Scafell Pike
It was still bitterly cold as I slowly began to pack my rucksack.. Once packed, I hung around the summit for quite a while as the clouds formed over down into an inversion effect. It was time to get back to my base camp at Sprinkling Tarn.
I still had enough time and energy at Esk Hause to quickly climb Allen Crags. It had gone midday when I finally got back to the tent. I'd been away from it for twenty two hours and it felt like a four star hotel. The rest of the day was to be a rest day - I had a home-prepared chicken curry and a surplus of wine - a bottle and a can - as I had wine for the next day stored at the cache near the hut. The ground was a bit uneven so I wasn't too comfortable, but I was very tired and slept reasonably well.
A sea of clouds over Eskdale, from near Calf Cove
The view east from Allen Crags
Sunday, 2nd January, 2000
After a late breakfast, I packed my rucksack and struck camp. I was heading for Dubs Quarry on Fleetwith Pike where I intended to spend my final night in the bothy there. The going was quite easy down to Styhead Tarn because there was much less snow about, although there were still some treacherous patches of blue ice and verglas here and there. The climb up Aaron Slack to Windy Gap was quite exhausting but after a lunch break I felt a lot better and decided to carry on over the summits of Green Gable, Brandreth and Grey Knotts rather than descending into Ennerdale and along Moses Trod.
I reached the hut as dusk approached and was quite relieved to find my cache were I'd left it nearby. I hung up a few things to dry and having more than enough fuel, lit the stove underneath to heat them up a bit. As the night wore on, it got very windy outside - it sounded like a gale. The roof rattled a bit. I was very glad I wasn't in the tent. Tea was a Vesta curry with a bottle of wine from the cache, followed by fruit cocktail for dessert.
The hut at Dubs Quarry, with Haystacks beyond
Monday, 3rd January, 2000
I awoke about 7.00am. It was quite cold in the hut and it was hard to get out of the sleeping bag, which was very cosy. But eventually I managed to haul myself out of bed and make a start on packing the rucksack, which was quite easy as I had more room to move, and no food to pack. The hut is only a mile from the youth hostel at the Honister Pass, where I was able to dump some of my rubbish in their bin. The walk from the hut to Seatoller took a little over an hour, and once there I only had to wait an hour or so for a lift back home from some friends who had been up in Scotland.
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