Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to reach Scafell Pike’s summit cairn without encountering a living soul. You aren’t Tom Cruise abseiling in from a helicopter, but you still have a reasonable chance - even when the stony staircases from Wasdale, Langdale and Borrowdale are thick with queues... Esoteric routes normally involve a trade-off of scenery for quiet, but there’s no sense of compromise here: you’ll be spending time in the presence of the Eskdale flank of the Scafells, one of the most imposing mountain spectacles in England. The grandeur and isolation give this outing a quasi-Scottish feel.
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Detailed description
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NY2442701813 A sketchy path heads north across the moor and quickly becomes firmer and better-defined. Higher up, though, it loses identity in squelchy terrain. Head for a low col between Hardknott and the westerly slopes of Crinkle Crags.
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NY2365103986 If the weather is clear, reaching the col will be a magical moment. The dull confines of Moasdale are behind you and the Scafells are displayed magnificently across upper Eskdale. Drop down to and cross Lingcove Beck then trend left, contouring across to the descent to the Esk. Head upriver.
© Norman Hadley, Feb 2020
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NY2211305638 Cross the river, assuming it is safe to do so, near the confluence of How Beck. Head north up pathless slopes, home to ring ouzels in summer, round the back of the imposing precipice of Dow Crag to the tiny summit of Pen.
© Norman Hadley, Apr 2021
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NY2214306761 Saying goodbye to the peace and quiet for a while, head up stony ground to the summit of Scafell Pike. One slight scrambly section can be turned on the left.
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NY2153907207 Follow the usual track northeast, switchbacking across the stony shoulders of Broad Crag and Ill Crag.
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NY2263108022 Where the path starts to descend steeply on the right, head north to make a quick out-and-back to Great End. Then take the stony steps down into Calf Cove. Note there is a very useful spring here. Drop to Esk Hause, taking care not to be tempted to your left down to Angle Tarn.
© Norman Hadley, Jul 2021
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NY2330108078 Instead, climb trending right to the rocky tor of Esk Pike.
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NY2363007481 Head south-south-west on a long, broad ridge. Don't expect luxuries like a path but do expect the most spectacular close-range inspection of Scafell Pike available from anywhere.
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NY2305605704 At the end of the ridge, be careful to avoid crags. Descend to Lincove Beck and return via the now-familiar path down Moasdale. Unless. Unless you're not done yet. Unless you've not yet fully scratched the itch. Unless, in short, you're a lunatic. If so, take a short detour up to Hard Knott for a slightly different perspective on the Scafells. Be warned, though: the pathless descent from Hard Knott to Cockley Beck is gnarly.
© Norman Hadley, Feb 2018
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Nice write up.
By far the quietest way to reach the Scafell range. I remember some years ago now approaching the Esk Buttress from Cockley Beck as the then FRCC guide suggested IIRC and despite it being a very dry spell we were soon semi-swimming through the bog! Definitely prefer to approach from Brotherikeld farm now, which is at least somewhat drier underfoot until The Great Moss.
Splendid place :-)
That's fair, Mark. I tweaked the start point to Cockley Beck so as to keep the promise of quiet all the way to within a stones-throw of the summit cos the Brotherilkeld approach, while lovely, is thick with wild swimmers these days. I was just saying to editor Dan that I first did this approach as a pre-schooler, fifty years ago this summer. So, a very long-term fave....
Wonderful country - The Great Moss really is the 'Wild Heart' of the Lake District, and with England's highest ground rearing up beyond, possesses a grandeur not seen anywhere else in England. Not so keen on Moasdale though, one giant bogfest when I went up there - but at least it is quiet.
That route up Scafell Pike past Pen is most definitely on my radar, as is a descent (or ascent) of Esk Pike's long south ridge.
Agreed, defo a quieter route.
Tongue Pot and surroundings has gotten a bit overrun with swimmers that's for sure.
I camped at point 2 on the route a few autumn's back. I left the car at about 11 pm walked up in heavy rain and was in my tent about midnight. Absolutely foul night and as black as anything. But waking up the next morning and seeing the Scafells with a sprinkling of fresh snow on the tops was great.