I decided to include a quick reconnaissance of Great End, even though I had been there before, to be sure of being comfortable in fog, and to see if there is a safe route directly from the summit to Esk Hause without walking all the way back to the col to the south west.
After a deliberately slow start and a hearty cooked breakfast at the youth hostel at Coniston Holly How, I parked in the National Trust car park behind the Sticklebarn Inn, and headed out along the Cumbria Way, past the hummocks of moraine at the head of the valley, and up via Rossett Gill past Rossett Pike and Angle Tarn. I noticed again the extensive moraine where the stream drains Angel Tarn. For the first time the even more extensive moraine where the path crosses the fairly level ground north-east of the tarn. This moraine is why there is a marsh between the path and the side of Esk Pike: it impedes drainage.
I followed the path that leads to Scafell Pike up side of the little corrie called Calf Cove, then turned right onto the path leading to Great End. This path starts out easy to see, but gradually peters out nearing the summit. I explored both the actual 910-metre summit, and the rock promontory about one hundred meters to the north east, then attempted to find a safe route back to Esk Hause without going back past Calf Cove, but I could not, so I returned the way I had come.
It was bleak, windy, and foggy at Esk Hause. It was actually foggy everywhere above about 600m, but it seemed to matter more, and be more eerie, where the ground was more level and less loaded with obvious features.
Making absolutely certain I was on the rising path leading south-west towards Esk Pike and not the descending path leading south towards certain doom, I set out on the main part of the reconnaissance. Finding Esk Pike was easy, but the going was very slippery where algal slime had collected on wet rocks in shady nooks. The route down was straight forward, with fine views through the patchy cloud of Angle Tarn, first at the little un-named col about 130m south west of the peak, then at Ore Gap.
Ore Gap is quite an interesting place. Some of the rocks there are vivid dark red and purple, and there is a little low footbridge carrying the main east-west path over the marshy ground. Also, it was much less windy than I had expected. It would be a great place to have a picnic on a fine, clear day.
On the eastern flank of Ore Gap the path just disappears. It is exactly because of things like this that I spend so much time on reconnaissance: better to work out what to do on reconnaissance, than on the event with a bunch of cold wet participants getting colder and wetter by the minute. There is a line of cairns which accurately marks the way to Bow Fell, but my concern was that conditions might be so bad "on the day" that I would not be able to see one cairn from the next -- fortunately, there are plenty of other clues to navigate by.
At the peak of Bow Fell I tried to find a safe way down without turning back, but could not, even though a path leading south is marked on the map, so I retraced my steps to the junction of paths about 120m north of the peak, and turned right for Three Tarns -- this section is also marked by cairns.
In the fog, the three tarns were not visible from the footpath, which makes a sudden left turn without properly landing on the col, so I nipped over to see them, or at least, the nearest one, then started my long descent past Earing Crag and down the Band. A little warning: this route saves most of its descent until the end, so there is plenty of difficult terrain ahead for tired knees and tried feet (though no difficult navigation), even with the gentle pasture of Stool End in sight.
The reminder of the walk was pleasant and easy, but my feet were beginning to get tired by the time I reached Old Dungeon Inn, with still more than a mile to go.
The section from Esk Hause to Sticklebarn Inn took me three and a half hours walking, including breaks, but excluding time spend on exploring.
Immediately I reached Stickebarn Inn, I was into the friendly milieu of my Mountain Leader colleagues as we gathered for the evening briefing for the Lakes Eight Peaks Challenge the next day, and a huge meal.
Back at the hostel, I refreshed my kit for the next day, slipped into my tent without having a shower (yes, dear reader, I'm afraid so), went out like a light, and slept very soundly.
Making absolutely certain I was on the rising path leading south-west towards Esk Pike and not the descending path leading south towards certain doom, I set out on the main part of the reconnaissance. Finding Esk Pike was easy, but the going was very slippery where algal slime had collected on wet rocks in shady nooks. The route down was straight forward, with fine views through the patchy cloud of Angle Tarn, first at the little un-named col about 130m south west of the peak, then at Ore Gap.
Ore Gap is quite an interesting place. Some of the rocks there are vivid dark red and purple, and there is a little low footbridge carrying the main east-west path over the marshy ground. Also, it was much less windy than I had expected. It would be a great place to have a picnic on a fine, clear day.
On the eastern flank of Ore Gap the path just disappears. It is exactly because of things like this that I spend so much time on reconnaissance: better to work out what to do on reconnaissance, than on the event with a bunch of cold wet participants getting colder and wetter by the minute. There is a line of cairns which accurately marks the way to Bow Fell, but my concern was that conditions might be so bad "on the day" that I would not be able to see one cairn from the next -- fortunately, there are plenty of other clues to navigate by.
At the peak of Bow Fell I tried to find a safe way down without turning back, but could not, even though a path leading south is marked on the map, so I retraced my steps to the junction of paths about 120m north of the peak, and turned right for Three Tarns -- this section is also marked by cairns.
In the fog, the three tarns were not visible from the footpath, which makes a sudden left turn without properly landing on the col, so I nipped over to see them, or at least, the nearest one, then started my long descent past Earing Crag and down the Band. A little warning: this route saves most of its descent until the end, so there is plenty of difficult terrain ahead for tired knees and tried feet (though no difficult navigation), even with the gentle pasture of Stool End in sight.
The reminder of the walk was pleasant and easy, but my feet were beginning to get tired by the time I reached Old Dungeon Inn, with still more than a mile to go.
The section from Esk Hause to Sticklebarn Inn took me three and a half hours walking, including breaks, but excluding time spend on exploring.
Immediately I reached Stickebarn Inn, I was into the friendly milieu of my Mountain Leader colleagues as we gathered for the evening briefing for the Lakes Eight Peaks Challenge the next day, and a huge meal.
Back at the hostel, I refreshed my kit for the next day, slipped into my tent without having a shower (yes, dear reader, I'm afraid so), went out like a light, and slept very soundly.
