Esk Pike and Crinkle Crags

Thursday 9th April 2015

I was beginning to really suffer on this walk. I already had lots of blisters on my feet, but I was now having a bigger problem with what I thought was sunburn even though the weather was cooler than it had been earlier in the week with hazy sunshine spoiling the distant views. My face and neck were very sore and this was detracting me from my enjoyment of the walking even though I was going over some fabulous fells. I had originally planned to retrace my steps all the way back to High Raise so I could resume my walk along the Derwent watershed that I had been following all week. However, I hadn’t enjoyed the path over Greenup Edge the day before, and because I dislike retreading my steps, and in view of my sufferings, when I got to the northern end of Langstrath I turned right over the bridge and headed into the valley. This is not a valley that I have walked through very often and the last time was probably News Year’s Eve 2008 when I walked through thick cloud in the valley only to find clear blue skies when I climbed out of the valley at the far end.

Langstrath is familiar to TV viewers as it features in the opening and closing titles for BBC’s Countryfile, but that had not influenced my decision to walk up this long, but quiet, tranquil valley under blue skies. Eventually I reached the foot of Stake Pass where I could see that some major engineering work had been carried out to restore the old zigzags that snake their way up the fellside beside Stake Beck. They may be an eyesore from a distance, but they made the climb significantly easier than it would otherwise have been and for that I was thankful. At the top of the pass I finally rejoined the watershed for the River Derwent having failed to follow it from High Raise over Thunacar Knott, bypassing the Langdale Pikes, and across Martcrag Moor to Stake Pass. Since I’d left the Eden watershed the waters on the other side of the watershed that I was following have flowed into Windermere and ultimately reached the sea in the River Leven.

I now resumed my walk along the Derwent-Leven watershed across the bogs at the top of Stake Pass with the aid of an excellent path until the ground began rising towards Rossett Pike, which has an undulating ridge with many tops and the highest point is at the far end of the ridge. At any other time I may have wanted to visit each and every peak and to have explored Rossett Crag thoroughly, but on this occasion I didn’t have the energy, so after passing over Black Crags I settled for a path that bypassed all the remaining tops until I got to the end of the ridge and the top of Rossett Pike. Beyond Rossett Pike the watershed drops down to the top of Rossett Pass and climbs up the shattered crags of Hanging Knotts. There is no way for a walker to get up Hanging Knotts, so I set off along the popular bridlepath past Angle Tarn towards Esk Hause on a heavily manufactured path to the top of the pass where there is a shelter that I had never used before, but now I did, to have my lunch.

This pass, the highest point between Angle Tarn and Sty Head, is not Esk Hause, as is sometimes thought, as that pass is a short distance away on higher ground between Esk Pike and Great End. When studying the watersheds of the Lake District I came to the conclusion that Esk Hause is the centre of the Lake District in terms of the watersheds, and it is no coincidence that the highest fells, including Scafell Pike, are close by. The Derwent watershed goes over Esk Hause so I climbed up to the top of this significant pass and surveyed the awesome scenery around about me that no haze could spoil. The watershed continues over Great End to Great Gable where it turns right to pass along the northern ridge of Ennerdale over Haystacks and High Stile, but I turned back up to Esk Pike and followed the watershed back towards Hanging Knotts.

I have an odd affection for Esk Pike, and especially for the path that climbs up to it from Esk Hause. In the past I have only ever taken this path as a descent and I was overjoyed to be now taking this fabulous, craggy path up to the top of an unsung hero that is dwarfed by its bigger, more popular neighbours and was even, tragically, nameless on old Ordnance Survey maps. I always enjoy a traverse over Esk Pike, but the lift that this gave me soon passed after I’d descended to Ore Gap where I struggled up the long, stony ascent to Bow Fell. I really should have climbed to the top of Hanging Knotts since this is a junction of watersheds where the Derwent watershed parts company with the Leven watershed while the waters to my right flow into the River Esk. After spending most of this holiday following the watershed for the River Derwent I now parted company with it, but since I had wearily stayed on the main path up to Bow Fell that moment was somewhat spoilt.

I didn’t enjoy the long, tiring climb up to Bow Fell and I didn’t stay long at the summit as I followed the path down the screes to Three Tarns (where there actually were three tarns at the top of the pass). Continuing along the ridge I headed towards Crinkle Crags trying to make up for my earlier ignoring of passing tops by visiting the top of as many of the Shelter Crags and Crinkle Crags as I could. This is a thrilling ridge, so despite my weakened state I tried to make the most of this exciting ridge. Finally I reached the fourth and highest of the Crinkle Crags which was surprisingly empty of people, but I still didn’t linger as I made my way towards the Bad Step. This ten foot rock face is a notorious obstacle that had me quaking slightly as I approached it even though I usually easily climb it. The anticipation while descending a steep, craggy path to what I knew was a sheer rock wall was curiously unnerving, but in the end the actual climb was relatively straight-forward.

Wainwright recommended starting my descent into Eskdale from this point, but I elected to go over the fabulous last crag, my personal favourite on the Crinkle Crags, before turning back west towards Adam-a-Cove. Wainwright’s comment on this route down from Crinkle Crags was that it is a surprising weakness in the armour as it is on grass throughout, but also very steep. After passing a boggy area south of the crags I followed Swinesty Gill all the way down to the top of Moasdale where I left the Esk watershed and made my way down to Lingcove Beck. This I followed to its junction with the River Esk and from there I had a relaxing walk down the valley that eventually brought me to the Eskdale Youth Hostel. The weather was stunning all day on this walk even though the distant views were poor, however I was having a lot of problems. My face and neck were very sore from what I thought was sunburn, but I have since discovered it was an allergic reaction to the sun cream. This was a very tough day when my problems prevented me from enjoying the fabulous weather and some truly awesome, great mountains.