Just about light as I leave the car at Seathwaite.

A good path up Grains Gill leads up towards Allan Crags and Esk Hause.

First light on Great End.

Ruddy Gill falls.

 Borrowdale from the top of Ruddy Gill.

 Central Gully on Great End still with a few patches of snow.

Instead of heading up to Scafell Pike via Esk Hause I headed to the right to Sprinkling Tarn. Now in the warm early morning light.

 I was heading towards the Corridor Route, Lingmell ahead.

To my right was Wasdale.

Zooming in on Great Napes.

The reason for coming this way was here, Skew Gill. A large ravine on the west slopes of Great End in which there were a couple of references that I needed. This is the twist that I referred to in the title.

Awkward and rocky, the gill is steep but there are fine and unusual views of Great Gable from its confines.

Purple Saxifrage is abundant in this shaded gill.

Skew Gill upper section. There are steep sides to the gill so the best route is to keep to the stream bed. This is not a normal walkers route and there are sections which are slippery and require care. This is more of a scramble than a walk. I picked my day when there had been little recent rain and I still got wet.

Once out of Skew Gill I ended up on The Band, here looking back to Styhead Tarn. My next adventure was to investigate Cust's Gully. This required a bit of contouring round the fellside.

Cust's Gully. I only had to venture into here and ascend up as far as the far patch of snow, beyond there is an awkward scramble (climb) to reach the top.

The dogs wait patiently in the sun as I check out Cust's and the Branch Gully. Once done I headed back to The Band and ascended towards the summit.

The head of Branch Gully.

Bailey "claims" Great End.

Scafell Pike from Great End.

On the way to SP I stopped off on Ill Crag for something to eat.

A fine viewpoint and quieter than Scafell Pike.

Scafell Pike from Ill Crag. Now it was a straightforward route to the summit.

Lingmell from Broad Crag Col.

Looking back to Broad Crag Col.

Scafell Pike summit and a reasonable amount of visitors for such a nice day.

Scafell from near Scafell Pike summit.

Mickledore.

Lord's Rake from Mickledore, a route for the near future.

Pulpit Rock from Mickledore.

Zeta has five minute snooze as I check out the books for references.

The descent route from Mickledore. Its a steep scree route which requires a bit of care at the start but nothing too difficult.

From Hollow Stones I contoured over towards Lingmell.

I soon picked up the Lingmell path at the col. Great End and a cloud shadow.

Great Gable from Lingmell summit.

Kirk Fell and Pillar from the north column. The column has lost a foot or two since I was here last but it marks a fine location for views across Wasdale.

Great Gable from the same point.

Hounds on Lingmell summit.

Great Gable from Lingmell.

Heading to Goat Crags. Even though I was intending to head the other way there was a reference that I needed from this outcrop.

Scafell Crags from Goat Crags. I not headed back to Lingmell Col to pick up the corridor route.

Piers Gill from the corridor route.

Back on the corridor route but from here I was to go off track up to the shadows on the right to check out Lambfoot Dub.

Long Pike from Near Lambfoot Dub.

Lambfoot Dub.

Great Gable from near Lambfoot Dub.

Time to sit and enjoy the evening sunshine.

Now back on the corridor route heading towards Styhead.

Passing the entrance of Skew Gill, scene of earlier adventures.

Folded rock or carved contour map?

Great End from near Styhead.

The stretcher box at Styhead.

Styhead Tarn and Great End.

Shadows lengthen as we descend the path.

Seathwaite Fell.

This route was to take me above Taylorgill so that I could get another couple of references. The path is narrow in sections and some of the rocks are worn, care is needed.

Taylorgill Force.

Seathwaite Fell as we return to the car.

I am often asked how many references for the Wainwrights in Colour do I get on my days out. It does vary from as few as one or to a day like today when I ticked off 25 new ones and reconfirmed a further 10. I missed getting one due to the sun in totally the wrong position. All in all today was a good day.