Red Pike and Yewbarrow

Wednesday 23rd August 2023

After two days of rain, it was a relief to walk out of the Eskdale Youth Hostel and find good weather with the cloud breaking to reveal a fabulous day for walking. My planned walks on the previous two days had been abandoned, but with sunshine and, for the first time on this holiday, light winds, I was now able to do my planned walk. First I needed to get to Wasdale Head so I took the path that starts from the Woolpack Inn and climbs the hillside through bracken that was already starting to go brown. I have not done any walking in the Lake District at this time of the year before but I go always walking elsewhere at this time of the year, so I am surprised that I had not before noticed bracken browning at this time. It is perhaps significant to note that the higher the bracken was up the side of the hill, the more likely it was to have already turned brown. Eventually I reached the shores of Eel Tarn and followed the sketchy path around it and across the broad slopes below Great How. The usual route between Eskdale and Wasdale Head, known as the Corpse Road, is a bridleway that starts in the small village of Boot, but in 2016 I took this path via Eel Tarn for the first time and it is much more convenient for the youth hostel so I was eager to take it again, though the path is rather sketchy. Thanks to the good weather, however, I was easily able to navigate across the hillside to Lambford Bridge where I joined the Corpse Road and after passing Burnmoor Tarn descended into Wasdale Head.

With the stunning view of the mountains that surround Wasdale Head before me I slowly descended into the valley, past the National Trust campsite and across the valley to Wasdale Head. After passing the Inn I made my way along the path into Mosedale, which is somewhere I have not been many times and no further than on the path up to Black Sail Pass. Now, I veered off that path to follow the Mosedale Beck into the best of the Lakeland Mosedales. The tiny yellow flowers of tormentil decorated the grass and with the sun shining overhead this was becoming a very beautiful day in the Lake District. The route I wanted to take out of the valley was up Black Comb, but there is also a route up to Wind Gap that I have never taken before and I was wary about straying onto that path, however there didn’t seem to be a clear path up to Wind Gap and soon I lost all trace of a path. Wainwright describes this route for an ascent of Scoat Fell, but his guide to the Western Fells shows that I should have been south of the stream, but since there is no path indicated beyond a split boulder it probably doesn’t make much difference. Slowly, I followed the stream up into the cove where rock surrounded me and provided no way of escape. Screes lead one up to Wind Gap, but there seemed to be no way out of Black Comb.

This was a tiring climb, but the stunning rock scenery all around me enthralled while at my feet were many wild plants, though only tormentil was in flower and at one point I spotted a lizard basking in the sunshine. Wainwright’s route takes to a boulder-strewn rake that leads into a narrow rock gateway, but from where I was standing this seemed to be too difficult so instead I veered right towards a scree slope that led me after many slips and slides on the shifting stones to the path that bypasses Scoat Fell between Wind Gap and Red Pike. There I turned left and followed the path down to the col where Wainwright’s route would have deposited me. My first thought after reaching the top was that I didn’t want to do that ascent again, but since I didn’t use Wainwright’s precise route of ascent then perhaps a return visit could be argued. Now on much easier slopes I skirted the edge of the corrie and climbed up to the top of Red Pike to stunning views in all directions with Pillar dominating the view north, Kirk Fell east with the dome of Great Gable peaking over the top and the Scafell Pikes south east while to the south Wastwater sat serenely at the foot of the hill. Red Pike is a fell that I have visited three times in the last ten years but on none of those occasions did I link it with Yewbarrow, which I last visited in 2011 so that was my primary goal for this walk.

Broad, craggy slopes led me down to Dore Head, though I did make a point of stopping to sit upon the Chair, a cairn made into the shape of a chair that commands awesome views, however by this time it was beginning to cloud over. After crossing Dore Head I tackled the climb up Stirrup Crag which involved some surprisingly serious scrambling, though not too difficult, and eventually I reached the top of the crag and proceeded along the ridge with stunning views across Wasdale Head to reach the central top of Yewbarrow, which is the summit. The ridge continued to what I knew was a tricky descent so it was with some trepidation that I passed over Bull Crag and finally branched off the ridge down a zigzagging path into a rock-filled gully whose loose stones provided me with another challenge. I’m sure it was not the seriousness of the scrambling up and down Yewbarrow that had kept me away from the fell for more than twelve years and was perhaps more due to its isolation from other fells. Eventually I reached the bottom of the chute where a good path took me through heather and past Bell Rib, at the southern end of Yewbarrow, where a long descent down a dirt path led me down to the road beside Wastwater. A lengthy walk along the road, accompanied by light rain, took me to the Youth Hostel. This was a strenuous, but exhilarating walk through some fabulous rocky scenery that took me through some of the best terrain in the Lake District.