Great End and Esk Pike

Only 3 weeks since the last walk but we wanted to get out this weekend as it may be a while before the next one with Easter coming up and holidays etc. Steve couldn't make it so only Peter and myself on this walk. We probably picked the worst weekend to walk as the clocks went forward so we lost an hours sleep! To compensate for this Peter picked me up at 6.30 am (BST!) and we were on our way to Borrowdale. On the way we decided to park at Seathwaite and walk up to Esk Hause and then decide which tops to do, we had a choice of Glaramara, Great End, Esk Pike or indeed the Scafells. The Australian Grand Prix was on the radio for the journey and we arrived at Seathwaite about 8.30 am, got ready, tucked into the Angus Steak pies and set off walking about 8.45. The car park was already starting to fill up. It was cloudy on the tops at this stage but even this early we could tell it was going to clear later. We considered going up Taylorgill Force but thought we were going out of the way a little so went over Stockley Bridge and straight up Grains Gill. We had our first bait stop at the foot of Sprinkling Crags.

After a cuppa we set off and walked a little further until we were at the foot of Great End. A great slab of rock right in front of us with a large gully in the middle (Central Gully) covered in snow and a smaller gully (Custs Gully) to the right as we looked at it.

From this point we could see where the path joined us had we taken the route up Taylorgill Force. There was also a great view of

Great Gable from this point.

The path took us round to the left and up to Esk Hause where we would turn right up to the summit. Esk Hause seemed to be a very busy junction where lots of walks criss crossed. There was one guy stood there who said he was not going to the top as he couldn't see anything, seemed a shame as he was so close to several great tops from this point. We carried on our way to the summit reaching it just after 11.30.

We were still in cloud at this stage but it was clearing from time to time. We dropped down off the top and found ourselves looking down Central Gully which we had been looking up not long ago.

We walked round the top of Great End and stopped for another cuppa and it was now starting to clear.

The shot on the left is looking back towards Glaramara and the one on the right is looking across Esk Hause to Esk Pike with Bowfell behind it. We decided at this stage that we would head towards Esk Pike meaning we would get 2 top 10 mountains chalked off today.

We stopped a while, had some more bait and a good look around at the clearing summits, it was a great view from here. We then set off down to the Hause and up the short, rocky climb to Esk Pike.

We reached the 2nd summit of the day just after 1pm. Both mountains are in excess of 2900 feet so a satisfying morning! This was a really good walk with lots to see. The picture below is from the summit of Esk Pike looking towards the Scafells

We descended Esk Pike on exactly the same path as the ascent, back down to Esk Hause. By now it was like Piccadilly Circus here, with lots of fell runners out today and a very busy walking day! We walked around Great End and down Grains Gill. We stopped at the foot of Great End again for a final bait stop in very warm sunshine. We set off for the car and with very tired legs made it back just after 3.30.

A very good day on the fells although it will probably be May before we can get the next walk in. I am now half way through my challenge of 71 tops.

See you on the next walk.

Pike O Blisco

With 3 tops down in January we didn't have a walk in February so it was good to get out again. My turn to drive so I picked Peter and Steve up at Steve's house at 6.00 am. It was wet at the moment but the forecast for the west in particular was good so we set off for the Langdales. I had read about Pike O Blisco in my Wainwright book last night and he described it as one of the few tops you could actually make out the summit from the valley floor with its clearly visible cairn. When we arrived at Old Dungeon Ghyll just after 8.00 am we could not make out the summit this morning. Whilst it had stopped raining by now, there was very low cloud over the tops. We had our Angus steak pies which Peter had picked up yesterday and began walking just after 8.30 am.

We set off along the steep road and began to climb quite quickly. After a couple hundred metres we turned off the road and followed the path up towards the top.

When we turned around we could see Pavey Ark appearing through the mist and Steve and Peter explained what a difficult walk that one is, taking in Jack's Rake. We stopped for a sit down and a cuppa. The cloud was still low but we were hopeful it would clear later.

I had in my mind that Wainwright had said you could see the top all the way up the walk which was clearly not true. In fact he had said it was visible from the valley floor (which it was, had it been clear) but not all the way up. The higher we got the thicker the cloud gotand it felt that the top was more and more elusive.

The last 200 or 300 feet were a scramble up short rock steps which added another dimension to the walk. When we reached the top it was very cloudy and sadly we could not see what would have been a fantastic view. It was just after 11.30 now so we dropped just off the top and had lunch, facing Crinkle Crags had they been visible.

After lunch Steve checked the map and we set off in a southerly direction looking for the path, switching to south westerly and we eventually picked up the path. As we descended it started to clear up again and the Crinkles were visible now. We had to decide whether to take on the Crinkles or head back to the car. Time was beginning to go against us and we knew that if we did the Crinkles it would be another late one.

We had 4 tops under our belts and it was only early March. We had also descended quite a bit to get to this point so it made sense to go back to the car.

I had done the Crinkles back in the 90's but I did not have it marked off my list so we will have to return soon. I hope it is a clear day next time however as the views will be spectacular.

It was a steady descent to the valley and looking back we could see Paragliders hovering over Crinkle Crags and Bowfell. We got back to the car about 2.30 and had a couple of pints in the Hikers Bar. On the way home Peter suggested a bag of chips in Kirkby Stephen, a great end to another good walk.

Next one planned for the end of March.