Eskdale Escape (1 of 2)

 Tucked away in the remote western Lake District lies Eskdale, a quiet rural valley, home to hundreds of sheep, "Laal Ratty"s and the spectacular gateway to the 'roof' of England.

It was late afternoon when I arrived at my accommodation for the next two nights. The Bower House Inn at the mouth of the valley near the village of Eskdale Green. It had been a wet and dull morning back at home, but up here the clouds were clearing & blue sky was beginning to peek through, although there was a bit of a chill in the air.

I dropped my gear in the hotel room & went down for dinner. I couldn't resist the giant yorkshire pudding with locally sourced cumberland sausage, mashed potato & sauted veg - which interestingly included beetroot - served with lashings of gravy. Even better was that I washed it down with one of my favourite Lakeland ales - Loweswater Gold. And then there was chocolate brownie for dessert!

Happily filled, I had a few more beverages in the bar before retiring to my room. I had one hell of a day planned for tomorrow.

Up bright & early, I was one of the first guests down at breakfast for 8 am. After setting myself up for the day with a 'small' full English, I hit the road, driving a couple of miles up through the valley of Eskdale to a parking spot at the bottom of Hardknott Pass.

Blue skies over-head, it was looking like it was going to be a gorgeous day on the fells.

The parking area was on a relatively steep slope, so after some manoeuvring I parked across the slope, and booted up with my new Saloman hiking boots.

Starting by picking up the farm road to Brotherilkeld, the route then crossed open fields. In the distance ahead of me were the fells of Esk Pike & Bowfell, with a amazing 'cloud fall' flowing over between them - at the Ore Gap col where I had a walk rained off just a few weeks before.

After the fields, as the track continued on, ascending gently, the ground began to get rougher as the open fell side was reached. The path became a stony track, which ran perpendicular to the River Esk. Ahead, as the lay of the land went higher, I could see waterfalls up-river as the ascent began.

I eventually reached a fork in the river. I crossed Lingcove Bridge over the right tributary following the path. Shortly after though, the path forked again. Heading right here woudl take me up to 'Three Tarns' the hause between Bowfell & Crinkle Crags, which would eventually drop down into Great Langdale. My route went left, onto a narrower path continuing above the River Esk. The path entered a narrow valley with steep slopes on either side & continued on, where it reached the wild beauty spot of Esk Falls.

There were a few waterfalls on this stretch. The most idyllic had a good sized pool, which was very inviting for a swim. If only it was a tad warmer. The path deterioated through a bracken-covered slope before topping out to a large moss-land. Sticking to the path, I caught my first glimpse of today first peak - Scafell.

It was still a good distance off, and there was a long way still to climb, but seeing it made it feel more in reach.

Crossing over the mossland and rounding the rocky crags of Scar Lathing, the terrain became a large flat expanse, surrounded by towering fells all around. This was Great Moss.

It was here that I also spotted the first person I had seen in hours, in a bright red jacket, on a path on the opposite shoreline, heading in the same direction. The path crossed Great Moss again roughly following the course of the River Esk, which was now much wider (but shallower) than it was down river. The expansive moss was a huge water-catchment for the waters flowing into it from the surrounding fells, which in turn then ran into the River Esk, and onwards to the Irish Sea.

I could see where I needed to go, a few more hikers were tackling the path climbing up beside the waterfall of How Beck. I needed to get to the base of the falls, but couldn't see any bridges crossing the river. I continued on up river, judging where best to make a crossing. I was looking for a shallow section of river with quite a few large rocks in, which I could use as stepping stones.

I spotted a section that seemed to fit the bill. I could see a row of stones heading somewhat diagonally across a wide, but very shallow section of river. It was around 15 foot or so across to the otherside. The water was crystal clear, so I was able to judge the depth to be just a few inches. It all started fine, until I reached the end of the 'stepping stones' - the next one being just out of stepping reach. Where do I go from here? I braved it, and sploshed my boot onto the river bed, water flowing over the foot of my boot, and I took the last few steps onto the far side shoreline, with dry feet.

From the base of How Beck falls, I started the steep rocky climb up the path by the side of the waterfalls. The hikers I had seen on the path previously had disappeared over the top, and the hiker in the red jacket was a short distance behind me.

I began the climb, which required a bit of hands on rock to add a bit of excitement to the proceedings, before eventually topping out onto a hanging valley, with the imposing cliffs of Broad Stand ahead at the col of Mickledore - which both sounded & looked like a place from The Lord of the Rings.

Scafell Pike - the highest mountain in England - was the looming rocky pyramid to my right. But that would be for another day. Today, I was heading to neighbouring number 2 - Scafell. Heading up the valley was a pleasant trek, a well trod path through grassy terrain, with two becks either side.

The col of Mickledore was getting closer, but I wasn't planning to ascend that way. From this direction there were two 'safe' routes to get onto Scafell. Either cross over the Mickledore col, drop down the opposite side slightly & take the route up the scree gully of 'Lords Rake'. The second option, was via Foxes Tarn Gully - and it was this gully I was on the look out for.

It was only in the news a week or so earlier that someone had sadly lost their life climbing Scafell, attempting to scramble a third route up onto Scafell on near vertical cliffs of Broad Stand, a route most suitable for rock climbers.

The Foxes Tarn gully was quite well hidden within the shaded cliffs, but I found the bottom of the gully, & looked up at the top to see a chap just starting to scramble his way down.

The gully might have been about 15 feet or so wide, and around 300 hundred feet long, but it wasn't difficult or exposed & looked like it was going to be an exciting little scramble!

A small stream was trickling down the rocks from the top of the gully - no doubt from Foxes Tarn at the top, so I carefully made my way up over the rocks, trying to stick the the dry rocks & away from the moss covered ones. I crossed paths with the hiker about half way up, we both let on to each other before continuing on our way.

At the top was the over-enthusiastically named Foxes Tarn - which in reality is a large pool with a boulder sat in the middle. The tarn was situated in an amphitheatre of towering grass covered crags, too steep to climb, but a path headed north west, zig-zagging up through a scree slope to the col on top. There were a few hikers coming down the scree slope as I was starting my way up - giving me a cheery 'hello' and 'good luck' for encouragement!

I reached the grassy col at the top, marked by a large cross made out of rocks. The summit of Scafell was in easy reach, but before getting to the top, I headed over to a nearby subsidiary summit of Symonds Knott. This was a large rocky outcrop which was above the Broad Stand cliffs & afforded the best view north east to Scafell Pike summit - just half a mile away as the crow flies - but an 'hours hard labour' to get there on the ground according to Wainwright. I stopped for a snack & drink whilst watching the hordes of people clambering to get onto the large stone plinth marking the highest point in England.

Shortly after, I headed back to the large stone cross, passed over and onward up the final slope to the top of Scafell. It had taken me just shy of four hours from the bottom of Hardknott Pass to get to Scafell's summit.

Compared to the rowdy Pike, this summit was a lot more restrained, a modest cairn topped the summit rocks. It was also much quieter. A pair of walkers set off away from the summit as I approached, so I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the top, before moving on myself as a small group of people headed to bag the summit. (#143 - Scafell - 3,162 ft - New Highest!)

Now on the high-ground, the path headed down the southern slopes along the ridge of Long Green. The views on both sides were expansive. To my left, it dropped off sharply over Cam Spout Crags to overlook Great Moss, which I had trekked earlier in the day, and its surrounding fells.

To the right, the ridge dropped much more gently on grassier slopes looking down to the remote Burnmoor Tarn & Miterdale.

My next destination however was straight ahead of me at the end of the ridge. The path began to climb a rocky knoll, and then traversed over bare rock, which looked quite out of place. Around me the crags & cliffs of the mountains were sharp & jagged, however the rocks I were crossing were rounded and smooth - almost as if carved by ancient waves. These smooth rocks marked my second summit of the day. (#144 - Slightside - 2,499 ft).

Due to the bare-rock of the summit, there was no cairn here. I grabbed a photo, and made my way down off the summit rocks to pick up the path at the base.

The route then dropped, quite steeply down the rocky path on Horn Crag

I've since discovered that there was a double plane crash on Slight Side during the Second World War. Two Polish airmen, each flying a Hurricane fighter on a training mission, were flying in formation through low cloud. Due to poor visibility & unaware of their position, they tragically both crashed onto Horn Crag. Apparently, there is still wreckage at the location to this day, along with a memorial plaque. Unfortunately I was unaware of this when on my route, so would be just reason to make a second visit.

On reaching the bottom of Horn Crag, the land flattened as it reached Quagrigg Moss. Consulting my route plan, I had read to stick to the path to avoid the worst of the bog, and take the turning in the path towards Cat Cove Beck. The path became very faint as it crossed the moss until I was wondering if I was still on the path at all. This was a very remote place, with no signs of civilisation anywhere. I kept checking my map on my phone to make sure I was continuing in the right direction.

Eventually, the path re-appeared & I breathed a sigh of relief as I followed it down between the crags. After a while it met up with & followed the line of a drystone wall - the upper wall of a farmers fields & I could see the farms & the Hardknott Pass below me. The path continued & came out on the pass at the farm of Wha House. From there I followed the road back for three-quarters of a mile to where I had started almost exactly seven hours earlier.

Back at the Inn, I headed to the bar for an ice cold cider, and booked my table for dinner, before heading back to my room to get showered & changed.

Mark