Hill

This was the view from the car park of the first part we had to climb.

Sombrero

Looking at the clouds, and the light rain that was already falling, I decided to leave my sombrero in the boot of the car to avoid it getting ruined.

Foothill

This was only a foothill of the mountain itself.

Camera protection

I tied my camera cord to the cord on the hood of my cagoule. This should stop it hitting the ground if I drop it. As it turned out, I had to hide the camera in my pocket quite a lot to avoid it being destroyed by rain.

A bright start

The weather doesn't look too bad here, as we set out towards the first ascent.

Puddle

We crossed a muddy field to a bridge. This puddle is the result of the previous days' rainfall.

River

The first of a few rivers we encountered. This one was flowing quickly, carrying all the rainwater from the past week.

Going up

We started to gain height as we walked along the rather uneven path up the hillside.

Rain

Of course, this being Britain, it started to rain. The Lake District is in fact home to Seathwaite, England's wettest town according to Met Office statistics.

Wast Water

The nearest lake to Scafell Pike

Looking down

We've come some way already, but this is only the beginning.

Another river

As we came around the corner, we saw another river flowing down the hillside.

Waterfall

It was quite an impressive waterfall. There were other people climbing the mountain, ahead of us.

Waterfall

View

As we got higher up, we started to get a better view of the lake.

Sheep

The most common creature in the lake district. They were literally all over the place. There were even some a few hundred feet from the summit of the mountain.

Path to the lake

The path was uneven, which made the walking hard work. Add to this the gradient, and it became a very exhausting trip.

Crossing the river

There were supposed to be stepping stones across the river, but due to the heavy rain, they were below the water level. We met a few other groups of people here, all trying to cross the river. It was just a case of wading out and hoping you didn't trip up. My feet were soaked after this, which made walking just that bit more uncomfortable.

Into the clouds

As we got higher, the views started to dissappear and were replaced by clouds.

Lake through the clouds

This was the last good view we had of the lake before it was completely blocked out by the clouds.

Rocks

The path dissappeared, and we had to navigate rocky terrain

Hillside

We couldn't see very far, and we had to get across this rocky hillside. The cloud thickness varied as they moved over, but we could never see more than about 500 metres.

Glimpses of the lake

When we were even higher up, there was a short break in the clouds, and we could once again see a small part of the lake.

Grassland

The rocks started to cover less ground, and there was more grass showing. There were plenty of sheep on this stretch of the climb.

Cairns in the mist

We were navigating using these piles of rock placed by many climbers over the years. We added stones to some of them as we went.

Climbing on

In some places, the path of stones was obvious, whereas in others there was a blanket covering of rocks, and we had to look for the cairns.

Tarn

Looking across in a cloud break to the next mountain, we saw a tarn. Up here, it was very peaceful. Except for the occasional aircraft passing over and people talking, it was silent.

There's nothing there!

Walking up to the edge of this outcrop and looking over, I could see nothing but the eerie whiteness of the clouds.

The mist thickens

Nearer the top, we could see even less far ahead. At times, we could barely see the next cairn. It was also getting colder now, and the rain was becoming heavier.

Trig point

Finally, after more than three hours, a trig point appeared out of the mist. We were at the top!

England's highest place

This pile of rocks marks the highest point in England. Notice how the wind has picked up at the top, and is causing almost horizontal rain to sweep across the mountain top. It wasn't the best of weather, and we certainly weren't going to stop for a picnic, as my original intention had been.

On top of England!

Not the most comfortable of positions to stand in, with the wind driving rain at my face. My glasses were covered in water so I could barely see, and I was thoroughly soaked despite the cagoule, but for that moment, I was the highest person in England.

Descent

If anything, the descent was more difficult. It was raining harder now, and the rocks were slippery. I only took my camera out near the bottom, when we could see the car park again.

New hairstyle

The rain had flattened my hair against my head. It hasn't quite been the same since...