Day’s End, St Sunday Crag

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Surfacing like the dorsal section of a great marine creature forever turned to stone, St Sunday crag is a remarkable feature in the landscape of Patterdale. The narrow ridge that connects it to Cofa Pike provided me with an ideal camping place. Although the shattered rocks of the Pike demand a scramble but then reward with a fine view into further valleys beyond, it is the slender sail of St Sunday crag which impresses. Even the nearby Helvellyn seems chaotic and lumpen in contrast. As the last light of the day strikes the west slope of the ridge, the teeth-like rocks of Cofa also burst into fleeting prominence. This fiery blast of autumnal light signals to walkers they must hurry from the slopes before the creeping blues and greens of the valley reassert their control, and the loose rock paths dissolve into the indistinct twilight.