Mountain walks in the Lake District
Mountain walks in the Lake District are among the most popular in England, and whether you want an easy stroll or a challenging climb, you will find walks of all levels close to your Lake District hotel.
Great Gable
These are two favourite mountains, and rightly so, for each has special characteristics which remain long in the memory. Great Gable (simply 'Gable' to many) has the rock architecture of the Great Napes, including Napes Needle, and Gable Crag, while Pillar has Pillar Rock, an aweinspring buttress falling vertically into the depths of Ennerdale. Both are tackled most frequently, and with good reason, from Wasdale Head, though Great Gable is also a target for many in Borrowdale or at Honister, and Pillar is the climax of an exhilarating though quite long walk over Haycock from Ennerdale.
Wasdale Head
Wasdale Head, a tiny hamlet but one with a unique place in climbing history, is virtually surrounded by high mountains, but Great Gable cries out to be climbed. Perfectly seen from the hamlet, it promises a magnificent climb and indeed delivers several, with a wide choice of routes. The best require a little perseverance to begin with, as the scree slopes of Gavel Neese are overcome, but the rock pinnacle known as Moses' Finger signals the start of the excitement. It is possible to keep straight ahead, scrambling over the rocky upper sections of Gavel Neese, but this is a tortuous and at times difficult route.
Better is the traverse to the right, towards the Great Napes and then energetically up one of the two prominent scree funnels, graphically described as the Great and Little Hell Gates. Better still, in the view of a good number, is the left-hand route, on a level path above the Gable Beck. This is Moses' Trod, reputedly first devised as a whisky smugglers' route from Honister to the coast but certainly much in use in the early days of quarrying at Honister, when the slate was hauled on sledges along this track into Wasdale.
Moses Trod eventually arrives at Beck Head, the col between Kirk Fell and Great Gable, where there will be either one or two tarns depending on the season. A really enjoyable route involving a little scrambling now rises by the side of Gable Crag to the rocky summit plateau of Great Gable, a place of pilgrimage for many and the highly appropriate site of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club's war memorial. The views along Wasdale from the Westmorland Cairn should be savoured before the return to Wasdale Head, perhaps via the Breast Route to Sty Head and then along the quieter of the paths along the Lingmell Beck valley, is finally tackled.
Pillar Rock
The way to Pillar lies along the track starting behind the Wasdale Head Inn, passing (but not crossing) an excellent example of a Lakeland packhorse bridge and then striking up alongside the Mosedale Beck towards the Black Sail Pass. At the pass, where there are still the forlorn remains of a gateway, the path to Looking Stead and Pillar climbs up to the left. Looking Stead is as good a vantage point as any for the Forestry Commission's plantations in Ennerdale; clear felling of the drab green blanket, so unfeelingly and unimaginatively imposed on the valley in the 1920s, at least gives them a second chance to get it right.
Beyond Looking Stead the High Level Route to Pillar contours across the fellside to Robinson's Cairn, the ideal viewpoint for the east face of Pillar Rock, a savage piece of rock scenery dropping vertically for some 150m (500ft) into Pillar Cove. John Atkinson, a local shepherd, is credited with the first ascent of Pillar Rock, in 1862, and there are now some awesomely difficult routes to the top of the remarkable buttresses and deeply riven gullies which comprise the face of the precipice.
From Robinson's Cairn the Shamrock Traverse, an exciting though not particularly exacting walk for the sure-footed, leads above tremendous crags to a steep scree slope with fine views of the little rocky tower of Pisgah and then up to the summit plateau of Pillar. This is a bit of an anticlimax, with the top of the fell a surprisingly level area adorned with cairns, wind shelters and an Ordnance Survey pillar as well as a ruinous fence, part of a boundary fence which once enclosed the whole of the Ennerdale watershed. The walk continues along the ridge to Scoat Fell, dropping down first to Wind Gap, with the superb sight of Steeple, its summit attainable from the ridge only by scrambling along a rocky arete, across Mirk Cove.
Wasdale Head
A variety of routes confronts the walker bound for Wasdale Head from Scoat Fell; the easiest drops down to Scoat Tarn and the Nether Beck valley, but it is better to gird up the loins for one final ascent and return via Red Pike, its rocky top overlooking the deep glaciated trough of Mosedale, and the col at Dore Head, where a rough scree slope can be used to reach valley level.
Wasdale Head is also the natural starting point for walkers intent on reaching England's highest point, the summit of Scafell Pike, but there are several other approaches worthy of consideration. Borrowdale and Great Langdale spring immediately to mind, but the best way of all is perhaps the route from Brotherilkeld in upper Eskdale. This is a long but outstandingly satisfying expedition which passes through a wide variety of mountain scenery, from the relative calm of the Esk valley and the strange bowl of Great Moss to the bouldery chaos of the Scafell Pike plateau.
Brotherilkeld, the highest point of settlement in the dale, was the centre of operations in Eskdale for the Furness monks from 1242 onwards and is nowadays a long, low and above all isolated farmhouse dating mostly from the seventeenth century; it is also the location for the Eskdale Show, usually held on the last Saturday in September.
The walk up alongside the Esk from the farm is a delight, with the river rippling through rocky pools and little gorges and the dale closed in by scree slopes and rocky bluffs such as Yew Crags, its name a reminder of the trees which were abundant here before the sheep moved in. At Throstle Garth, the path crosses the singlearched Lingcove Bridge close to the monks' sheepfold and keeps above the river (a detour is necessary to see Esk Falls) as far as the huge basin of Great Moss.
Great Moss walks
Great Moss was the site of a shallow lake scoured out during the Ice Ages and it is now a peat bog, presenting a real challenge to the walker who likes to remain dryshod; the most promising route uses the medieval boundary wall, a turf bank with a core of boulders, which the monks built in 1284 to restrict their sheep to the lowland pastures whilst allowing the more agile deer to roam freely. Next, the River Esk, shallow and wide hereabouts, has to be crossed, before a route rising diagonally to the right up the steep fellside opposite is taken to reach the delightful and little known summit of Pen.
It is then a relatively easy matter to contour round into' the upper reaches of Little Narrowcove and thus gain the summit plateau of Scafell Pike across a sea of awkward boulders. This, at 977m (3,206 ft), is the highest land in England, though the immediate surroundings are bleak and inhospitable, and not enhanced by the tumbledown wallshelter around the summit. But the walk down to Mickledore and subsequent conquest of Scafell more than makes up for any disappointment.
The approach to Mickledore, a deep col where less resistant volcanic rocks have been rapidly eaten away, reveals the majestic Scafell Crag, a splendid piece of rock architecture which bars direct access to Scafell's summit but has one weakness, the rocky gully of Lord's Rake between the main crag and Shamrock Buttress. This has long been a favourite route for adventurous walkers and is showing signs of wear and tear, with a river of scree filling the deadstraight channel which rises steeply from the foot of Deep Gill.
Shortly before the first col the West Wall Traverse branches off and forms a suitably exciting climax to the ascent of a fine mountain. An easier alternative is to keep to the Rake as it rises and falls across the face of the mountain (don't be tempted to detour left into an apparently promising gully; this ends in a desperate scramble) before reaching the summit plateau a little below the highest point, marked by a substantial cairn.
The return to Eskdale can then be achieved via Foxes Tarn (the second highest in the district) and the Mickledore path back down to Great Moss and Brotherilkeld or, for those able to finish the walk lower down Eskdale, over Slight Side to Wha House or Boot.
Whichever finishing point is chosen, this is a memorable long walk, undoubtedly amongst the best in the Lake District's highest fells.
Great Gable
These are two favourite mountains, and rightly so, for each has special characteristics which remain long in the memory. Great Gable (simply 'Gable' to many) has the rock architecture of the Great Napes, including Napes Needle, and Gable Crag, while Pillar has Pillar Rock, an aweinspring buttress falling vertically into the depths of Ennerdale. Both are tackled most frequently, and with good reason, from Wasdale Head, though Great Gable is also a target for many in Borrowdale or at Honister, and Pillar is the climax of an exhilarating though quite long walk over Haycock from Ennerdale.
Wasdale Head
Wasdale Head, a tiny hamlet but one with a unique place in climbing history, is virtually surrounded by high mountains, but Great Gable cries out to be climbed. Perfectly seen from the hamlet, it promises a magnificent climb and indeed delivers several, with a wide choice of routes. The best require a little perseverance to begin with, as the scree slopes of Gavel Neese are overcome, but the rock pinnacle known as Moses' Finger signals the start of the excitement. It is possible to keep straight ahead, scrambling over the rocky upper sections of Gavel Neese, but this is a tortuous and at times difficult route.
Better is the traverse to the right, towards the Great Napes and then energetically up one of the two prominent scree funnels, graphically described as the Great and Little Hell Gates. Better still, in the view of a good number, is the left-hand route, on a level path above the Gable Beck. This is Moses' Trod, reputedly first devised as a whisky smugglers' route from Honister to the coast but certainly much in use in the early days of quarrying at Honister, when the slate was hauled on sledges along this track into Wasdale.
Moses Trod eventually arrives at Beck Head, the col between Kirk Fell and Great Gable, where there will be either one or two tarns depending on the season. A really enjoyable route involving a little scrambling now rises by the side of Gable Crag to the rocky summit plateau of Great Gable, a place of pilgrimage for many and the highly appropriate site of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club's war memorial. The views along Wasdale from the Westmorland Cairn should be savoured before the return to Wasdale Head, perhaps via the Breast Route to Sty Head and then along the quieter of the paths along the Lingmell Beck valley, is finally tackled.
Pillar Rock
The way to Pillar lies along the track starting behind the Wasdale Head Inn, passing (but not crossing) an excellent example of a Lakeland packhorse bridge and then striking up alongside the Mosedale Beck towards the Black Sail Pass. At the pass, where there are still the forlorn remains of a gateway, the path to Looking Stead and Pillar climbs up to the left. Looking Stead is as good a vantage point as any for the Forestry Commission's plantations in Ennerdale; clear felling of the drab green blanket, so unfeelingly and unimaginatively imposed on the valley in the 1920s, at least gives them a second chance to get it right.
Beyond Looking Stead the High Level Route to Pillar contours across the fellside to Robinson's Cairn, the ideal viewpoint for the east face of Pillar Rock, a savage piece of rock scenery dropping vertically for some 150m (500ft) into Pillar Cove. John Atkinson, a local shepherd, is credited with the first ascent of Pillar Rock, in 1862, and there are now some awesomely difficult routes to the top of the remarkable buttresses and deeply riven gullies which comprise the face of the precipice.
From Robinson's Cairn the Shamrock Traverse, an exciting though not particularly exacting walk for the sure-footed, leads above tremendous crags to a steep scree slope with fine views of the little rocky tower of Pisgah and then up to the summit plateau of Pillar. This is a bit of an anticlimax, with the top of the fell a surprisingly level area adorned with cairns, wind shelters and an Ordnance Survey pillar as well as a ruinous fence, part of a boundary fence which once enclosed the whole of the Ennerdale watershed. The walk continues along the ridge to Scoat Fell, dropping down first to Wind Gap, with the superb sight of Steeple, its summit attainable from the ridge only by scrambling along a rocky arete, across Mirk Cove.
Wasdale Head
A variety of routes confronts the walker bound for Wasdale Head from Scoat Fell; the easiest drops down to Scoat Tarn and the Nether Beck valley, but it is better to gird up the loins for one final ascent and return via Red Pike, its rocky top overlooking the deep glaciated trough of Mosedale, and the col at Dore Head, where a rough scree slope can be used to reach valley level.
Wasdale Head is also the natural starting point for walkers intent on reaching England's highest point, the summit of Scafell Pike, but there are several other approaches worthy of consideration. Borrowdale and Great Langdale spring immediately to mind, but the best way of all is perhaps the route from Brotherilkeld in upper Eskdale. This is a long but outstandingly satisfying expedition which passes through a wide variety of mountain scenery, from the relative calm of the Esk valley and the strange bowl of Great Moss to the bouldery chaos of the Scafell Pike plateau.
Brotherilkeld, the highest point of settlement in the dale, was the centre of operations in Eskdale for the Furness monks from 1242 onwards and is nowadays a long, low and above all isolated farmhouse dating mostly from the seventeenth century; it is also the location for the Eskdale Show, usually held on the last Saturday in September.
The walk up alongside the Esk from the farm is a delight, with the river rippling through rocky pools and little gorges and the dale closed in by scree slopes and rocky bluffs such as Yew Crags, its name a reminder of the trees which were abundant here before the sheep moved in. At Throstle Garth, the path crosses the singlearched Lingcove Bridge close to the monks' sheepfold and keeps above the river (a detour is necessary to see Esk Falls) as far as the huge basin of Great Moss.
Great Moss walks
Great Moss was the site of a shallow lake scoured out during the Ice Ages and it is now a peat bog, presenting a real challenge to the walker who likes to remain dryshod; the most promising route uses the medieval boundary wall, a turf bank with a core of boulders, which the monks built in 1284 to restrict their sheep to the lowland pastures whilst allowing the more agile deer to roam freely. Next, the River Esk, shallow and wide hereabouts, has to be crossed, before a route rising diagonally to the right up the steep fellside opposite is taken to reach the delightful and little known summit of Pen.
It is then a relatively easy matter to contour round into' the upper reaches of Little Narrowcove and thus gain the summit plateau of Scafell Pike across a sea of awkward boulders. This, at 977m (3,206 ft), is the highest land in England, though the immediate surroundings are bleak and inhospitable, and not enhanced by the tumbledown wallshelter around the summit. But the walk down to Mickledore and subsequent conquest of Scafell more than makes up for any disappointment.
The approach to Mickledore, a deep col where less resistant volcanic rocks have been rapidly eaten away, reveals the majestic Scafell Crag, a splendid piece of rock architecture which bars direct access to Scafell's summit but has one weakness, the rocky gully of Lord's Rake between the main crag and Shamrock Buttress. This has long been a favourite route for adventurous walkers and is showing signs of wear and tear, with a river of scree filling the deadstraight channel which rises steeply from the foot of Deep Gill.
Shortly before the first col the West Wall Traverse branches off and forms a suitably exciting climax to the ascent of a fine mountain. An easier alternative is to keep to the Rake as it rises and falls across the face of the mountain (don't be tempted to detour left into an apparently promising gully; this ends in a desperate scramble) before reaching the summit plateau a little below the highest point, marked by a substantial cairn.
The return to Eskdale can then be achieved via Foxes Tarn (the second highest in the district) and the Mickledore path back down to Great Moss and Brotherilkeld or, for those able to finish the walk lower down Eskdale, over Slight Side to Wha House or Boot.
Whichever finishing point is chosen, this is a memorable long walk, undoubtedly amongst the best in the Lake District's highest fells.
Labels: Great Moss walks
posted by Windermere Boutique Hotels | 02:27
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