Throstlehow Crag, Pianet Knott And Scar Lathing

After crossing the bridge, we started heading upwards and northwards to Throstlehow Crag. Throughout this walk we usually found a track to take us between our objectives. Some were so vague that it was difficult to know whether they'd been made by people or wandering sheep. Even when plodding over trackless fell, the going didn't get too difficult underfoot. We were soon at the summit ofThrostlehow Crag and this provided a stunning view towards the Scafell massif. Some wildcampers had pitched near a bend in the River Esk, but they looked tiny against the massive backdrop of the crags. Today's walk involved visiting a plethora of Explorer hills and so we didn't hang about on the summit for long. 

Some vague tracks and some undulating fell brought us to the interestingly named Pianet Knott. I'm not sure why a crag in Eskdale should be named after a type of piano. Maybe somebody brought one up here once to tickle the ivories. The crag had a fine view down on to Lingcove Beck and along the Moasedale valley.  Our next stop on this Eskdale whistle-stop tour was Scar Lathing and we had to cross over Long Scar to get there. There are two other Long Scars in the Explorer list and I was surprised that this Eskdale one hadn't made it a trio, since it did seem to have a significant prominence as well as fine view southwards. On the way down to Scar Lathing the Cabin Boy put her foot into a deep, wet bog, filling her boot with smelly water and resulting in glum looks for the next hour or so. It didn't diminish my enthusiasm for Scar Lathing though; another fine viewpoint over the meandering River Esk. While taking a break on its summit, I looked northwards to study our onward journey to High Gait Crags. Low Gait Crags seemed to present a formidable barrier to our target although there did seem to be a route through looking at the map. In the end, given the Cabin Boy's soggy disposition, I decided to take the more obvious option of skirting Low Gait Crags to the east.

High Gait Crags

There wasn't a track up to High Gait Crags, well not until the latter stages anyway, but the going was reasonable underfoot. I was a bit undecided as to which particular crag was the summit and I had to use the gps to find the official one. It had a small cairn which was some sort of confirmation we were on the right crag. Out of all the peaks we'd visit today, I think I liked High Gait Crags the most. It simply had a stunning view westwards to the Scafell massif. It was a bit like looking at huge stone tsunami on an ultra-Imax screen.

We continued northwards on a slight incline over Pike de Bield Moss. The Yeastyrigg Crags weren't too much of a barrier and so we made a direct assault. The tops of the crags were undistinguished in terms of peaks and we walked past the official summit without noticing it.  The next peak, Pike de Bield, wasn't that obvious either. There were three possible candidates, with one of them having a sizeable cairn. The official summit turned out to be one of the other crags, although to be honest, I think all three of them deserved a credit rating. We had our lunch on Pike de Bield. It had been a wonderful morning with incredible views. I hoped the afternoon would be just as good.

Lingcove Beck

We joined the popular Esk Pike-Bowfell path near to Ore Gap and were able to say 'hello' to our first fellow walkers of the day. The bonhomie didn't last long though since we soon turned southwards down a track running alongside Yeastyrigg Gill. The track descended gradually, but then turned quite steep as we headed down into the valley. Once at the bottom of the valley we headed southwards on an obvious track. Up to our left we could see the massive ramparts of the Crinkle Crags. In particular, Rest Gill looked impressive as  a deep scar in the cliffs. The sight convinced me never to attempt an escape from Crinkle Crags to the west. While crossing one of the streams, I managed to totally submerge my left boot in a pool. As I sat wringing my sock out, I glanced up to see a look of pure delight on the Cabin Boy's face.  We could have returned to the carpark by just continuing along the track running alongside Lingcove Beck and then joining the River Esk path that we'd used this morning. I wanted to tick off some Explorers and Tarns near Hard Knott though, and so we branched off in the direction of Yew Bank.

Hard Knott

It was a gradual climb up to Yew Bank. The sun had disappeared and had been replaced by grey clouds. Even so, the view from the summit of Yew Bank was still tremendous and we could pick out all the peaks that we had ticked off today. We headed off eastwards and ticked off Hard Knott Tarns. One of them  was full of water and the other a watery bog. It was at this point that the Cabin Boy started having a moment. My intention had been to take a meandering route around this area to tick off Hard Knott, Hard Knott South Top, Border End and Raven Crag Tarn as a finale to the walk. The Cabin Boy said that due to the terrain, her knees were swollen and she wanted to get back to the car as quickly as possible. In truth, the intended peaks and tarn wouldn't have added much height or distance at all to the walk, but I thought it best to take the shortest return route possible, just for appearances sake. We found our way through the maze of crags around Hard Knott and descended on to the road at the top of the Hard Knott pass. I gave the Cabin Boy the option of following the road back to the carpark or using the footpath near to the Hardknott Castle Roman fort. She wanted to go down the road and so that's what we did. Oddly enough, the road doesn't seem quite as fearsome on foot, than it does in a car. There was a group of people with a couple of microphones near to the Roman fort. Kapitan Mo went off to investigate whilst I steered the Cabin Boy down the road towards the car. On the Kapitan's return he told us that the group of people were from English Heritage and that they were creating audio narrations that people will be able to listen to whilst touring the site in the future. I hoped that the Kapitan hadn't gifted them his expert knowledge of the site, since earlier on he'd told us that the fort was part of Hadrian's Wall.

The rain started pattering down as we drove away. It was perfect timing. It had also been a perfect day. Eskdale is an exceptional area of the Lake District and well worth the effort to explore...even if the exertions might cause swollen knees.