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A lovely walk with great views of the highest peaks of the Lakes on a day of unbroken sunshine.
There’s plenty of rough parking on the narrow road through Eskdale and the usual mix of visitors on a bank-holiday weekend. Accosted by a carload of teenagers wondering which way and how far it was to ‘Scafell Peak, is it?’ from here, I tried to steer them to at least starting from Wasdale (‘Can we walk there?’) and following the crowds, but they seemed worryingly determined… I hope they enjoyed it, wherever they ended up! Not many of the crowds seemed to be heading up Harter Fell, but it’s a terrific short climb, on a beautiful path angling up the hillside and then up the western slopes and an easy scramble to the rocky summits. One of those routes where – whether through steepness or the breadth of the views – you find yourself stopping almost as much as you move.
- Sca Fell from near Brotherilkeld
- Hard Knott from ascent of Harter Fell
- Sca Fell to Crinkle Crags above Eskdale...
- ...and from Harter Fell summit
- The lower summit from the higher, Green Crag & Devoke Water behind
- Coniston fells
Descending to Hardknott Pass, over fairly relentlessly damp ground, is a bit of an anticlimax – it definitely isn’t the best side of the mountain – but it’s not that far, and things pick up once over the road, rollercoastering along a succession of rocky knolls across Border End (worth the detour for a good viewpoint) to Hard Knott.
- Border End across the descent to Hardknott Pass
- White Pike & Caw over Dunnerdale
- Little Stand & Wrynose Pass
- Lower Eskdale from Border End
- Hard Knott summit ridge, Crinkle Crags behind
- Scafells
I didn’t see a soul on the ridge north down to Lingcove Beck from here, but on a clear day it’s a stunning mile or so with daunting views of the high peaks from Sca Fell to Bow Fell closing in around as you drop gently down.
- Ill Crag, Esk Pike & Bow Fell
- Scafells
- The tarn by Great Gill Head
- Scafell Pike to Esk Pike
- Esk Pike & Bow Fell
It’s an easy – if longish (it would seem a lot at either end of a trip to the Scafells, I think, as tempting a prospect as that looked today) – walk down picturesque Eskdale back to the start to finish a fine day in the lower fells.
- Scafells from above Lingcove Beck
- Falls near Lingcove Bridge
- Lingcove Bridge
- Above Tongue Pot
- Upper Eskdale
- Brock Crag
- Harter Fell