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.

Langdale to Eskdale via Red Tarn

Tuesday 22nd August 2023

After getting soaked the day before, the weather forecast for this walk seemed to be no better so I was not looking forward to starting and as I left the Langdale Youth Hostel for the last time on this holiday it was raining again, although as I descended into Langdale it was very intermittent. When I reached Chapel Stile I branched off the road and passed the Baysbrown Campsite, where I had stayed in 2021 echoing the walk that I had done two days earlier so for some variation I turned off the Cumbria Way at Oak Howe onto a bridleway that took me along the bottom of the valley to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel where I rejoined the Cumbria Way and followed it to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. My original plan for this day, assuming fantastic weather, was to ascend Rossett Pass on my way to Esk Hause and over Scafell Pike, however in view of the bad weather my goal was now solely to get to Eskdale. Therefore instead of heading down Mickleden I turned towards Stool End and after passing through the farm I headed down Oxendale. I walked from Langdale to Eskdale two years ago taking a route from Stool End up the Band to the Three Tarns pass and I didn’t want to repeat myself so I decided I would climb up to Red Tarn on a path that I had descended two years ago but never actually climbed.

The rain was more persistent as I made my way down Langdale and with strong winds near Stool End it was definitely not the weather for climbing a mountain, especially the highest mountain in the Lake District, but I would still need to climb over the mountains to get to Eskdale. By the time I reached the bridge over Oxendale Beck the sun was beginning to break through the clouds which prompted me to take many pictures of the stone-filled river, both towards the waterfall, Whorneyside Force, and back down Langdale, and soon after I started to climb I was prompted to take my waterproofs off. A well-made path of laid stones led me steeply up the hill and long before I reached the top the weather closed in again and it started to rain. By the time I reached Red Tarn I was in the clouds and my waterproof trousers were back on. I turned right at the junction near the tarn and headed up the path towards Crinkle Crags between Cold Pike and Great Knott. Cold Pike is a Wainwright and I had planned on visiting it on this holiday, but the wind, rain and low clouds was enough to convince me otherwise, so I just kept my head down and slowly climbed up the path. This is a tedious ascent at the best of times across featureless grassy slopes on a wide, stony path, so in this weather I just soldiered on until the terrain finally started to become steeper and craggier just before the first of the Crinkle Crags and I took this as the point to come off the path.

This is not a common route between Langdale and Eskdale, although it is quite direct, and features a tricky, pathless traverse. Wainwright describes a route up Crinkle Crags from Eskdale through Adam-a-Cove and I was trying to find that route down even though there is not a path. I came this way in 2015 in good weather but this time I was not so fortunate so I had to be careful to avoid the ravine that Swinsty Gill falls through or the crags in the area. Slowly, I crossed the southern slopes generally veering to my left to avoid difficulties, checking the terrain ahead of me before proceeding until eventually the clouds parted to reveal a very steep, but grassy descent all the way down into the valley far below. I was grateful that I had safely traversed the pathless hillside and now I carefully made my way down the hill until eventually I reached the Lingcove Beck. It was now 1.30 in the afternoon and potentially there was not much left of the walk to do, but I wasn’t worried about this and decided to take my time and the opportunity to relax, slowly meandering beside the beautiful stream. I took loads of photos of the Lingcove Beck, with Pianet Knott in the background and enjoyed the feeling of being in this amazing part of the Lake District.

Eventually I reached Lingcove Bridge and after lingering to take in the awesome scene that I have probably not seen since 2015 I proceeded down the valley beside the River Esk branching left at a junction to pass below Yew Crags and partially up the side of the hill. I’m sure I have previously kept to the path beside the river so I enjoyed exploring this more interesting path as the weather slowly began to improve with no more rain though it was still quite windy and overcast. I ignored the path down to the farm buildings of Brotherikeld and kept above the fell wall to eventually reach the road and Jubilee Bridge. I was more than happy to slowly wander along Eskdale, which I would definitely rank as my favourite valley in the Lake District, and since the last time I was there was in 2016 I was glad of the return visit. North of Lingcove Beck is stunning for its mountainous scenery, but south of Brotherikeld is also breathtaking for its tranquillity and abundance of trees. I had a blissful walk through this delightful valley, which did much to help me relax and shake off my remaining stresses from work. When I reached Doctor Bridge I kept going along the path on the northern side of the river until I reached St Catherine’s Church where the whistles from the little railway not far away could be clearly heard. After seeking out the distinctive gravestone for Tommy Dobson that Wainwright featured in his “Walks from Ratty” booklet, I returned beside the river back to Doctor Bridge and thence to the Youth Hostel. Even though I didn’t reach the top of any mountain on this walk, though I did climb very high, my primary goal had been to walk to Eskdale, and after doing that I had a wonderful walk through a fabulous valley that was a highlight of my holiday.