Scafell Pike & Scafell via Eskdale, Pen & Lord's Rake

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Route: Jubilee Bridge, Brotherilkeld, Taw House, Scale Bridge, Heron Stones, Esk Falls, Green Crag, Sampson's Stones, Pen, Rough Crag, Scafell Pike, Mickledore, Lord's Rake, Scafell, Long Green, Slight Side, High Scath, Silverybield Crag, Cowcove Beck, Scale Bridge, Taw House, Jubilee Bridge

Date: 01/07/2018
From: Jubilee Bridge

Parking: Jubilee Bridge
Start Point: Jubilee Bridge
Region: Southern Fells

Route length: 11.5 miles (18.5 km)
Time taken: 05:57
Average speed: 1.9mph
Ascent: 1,276m
Descent: 1,283m

Wainwrights on this walk:
Scafell Pike (978m), Scafell (964m), Slight Side (762m)

Additional summits: Pen (748m), High Scarth (487m), Silverybield Crag (395m)

Other points of interest: Eskdale, Great Moss, Lord's Rake

This is a walk I have wanted to do for a long, long time. The reason it has taken so long to get round to do it is perhaps the same reason it's a quiet, rarely trodden route - Eskdale (or upper Eskdale to be more precise).

Upper Eskdale is a sublime valley, hidden in the depths of the southern Lake District. There are no roads in the valley and few footpaths. By Lake District standards, routes to the mountains of Eskdale requires a long walk over some unforgiving terrain. However, Upper Eskdale is home to some of the very best scenery in the District - surrounded on all sides by some of the great fells of Lakeland - Scafell Pike, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags to name just three.

Getting to Eskdale can be a challenge, either requiring a long drive along the Peninsulas or a hair-raising crossing over the Hardknott and Wrynose passes. For these reasons, it is very quiet.

The lanes of Eskdale

The sun was shining brightly as I backed the car in at Jubilee Bridge, pleased that I had made the effort to get here in the first place after an early start from Leeds. After getting the gear ready I applied a generous covering of sun cream before setting off on my way. It was going to be a hot one.

The western footings of the Hardknott Pass at Jubilee Bridge

I decided to take the path on the west side of the River Esk, passing over some less-trodden terrain. There are paths on both sides, though the eastern side is more established, maybe a result of the relative popularity of Lingcove Bridge and the rocky pools nearby. My path took me beneath the rocks of Raven Crag (where I took a knee-gashing slide after being distracted by a naked man in the river) and up to Esk Falls.

Track at Brotherilkeld

Eskdale

A look back towards Jubilee Bridge and Harter Fell

The River Esk at Kail Pot

Heron Crag

The Esk Below Lingcove

Lingcove Bridge

Esk Falls below Throstlehow Crag

The path climbs up alongside the falls through a forest of bracken (a truly summer-only problem) and is quite hard going in places. One thing's for sure, with no breeze blowing in the valley it was exceedingly hot. Fortunately, I have a water bottle with a filter so I was already planning on where to fill up before taking on the steep climb up Pen.

The route above the falls

The Scafells emerge in the distance

The path emerges at the top of the falls into Upper Eskdale and, after rounding a bend in the river, the magnificence of setting starts to reveal itself. The huge, craggy faces of the Scafell range stretch out along the western side of the valley, sweeping round to become Esk Pike, Bowfell and the lesser-seen side of Crinkle Crags. Below it all is Great Moss, a huge expanse of boggy upland - the origins of the River Esk. Additionally, there are a number of interesting rocky protrusions, a number of which are classed as separate fells in their own right. Incidentally, Pen sits hidden below the skyline but the route of ascent looks brutally steep from this vantage point.

Scar Lathing

Scafell, Scafell Pike and Esk Pike

Cam Spout Crag

The River Esk

The path disappears momentarily as it follows the River Esk before reappearing close to Cam Spout Crag. The waterfall here was totally dry, the result of a prolonged period of very dry weather so I took the hint, using the river as the first water stop.

Pen is the small peak to the right, above the large buttress

Scafell Pike and Pen

Cam Spout Crag

After passing through Sampson's Stones (area of large boulders), Pen emerges above the skyline, the summit of the impressive Dow Crag - a huge buttress of rock that is, unsurprisingly, home to a few rock climbing routes. These are the ones you want to tackle if you want to avoid the crowds. From here, the ascent of Pen looks unpleasantly steep.

Sampson's Stones

Great Moss

Pen and Dow Crag

Cam Spout Crag

Dow Crag

Continuing on, a small cairn is reached close to a stream marking the point to start climbing. The climb is pretty steep but I found walking up the dry stream to be an easier alternative. There is a faint path here to help.

The route up towards Pen

Looking down on Great Moss

After reaching a broad gully, I detoured off the path to make a sharp, scrambling climb up to a broad area of grass below the summit. The scrambling is very easy and made an enjoyable change to the steep grass that preceded it.

The broad gully below the summit

Scafell

Great Moss once again

Pen's summit sits like a little fortress of rock on the grass - scramblers will enjoy the easy puzzle it presents. If scrambling is not your thing then easier access can be found on the side which faces Little Narrowcove.

Pen's summit

Pen's summit is perhaps one of the finest in the Lake District and I really mean this. The views are not especially expansive but they certainly are dramatic. To the west are the huge crags of the Scafell Range, observed in fine detail while the full face of Ill Crag towers over Little Narrowcove. A quick detour to the edge gives an aerial view of Eskdale and Great moss. I do believe that Pen is one of those 'missing Wainwrights' - fells that never made the list for whatever reason. It's certainly a more worthy objective than something like Mungrisdale Common.

The rocky summit of Pen

Esk Pike and Bowfell

Ill Crag

Scafell and Scafell Pike

Scafell panorama from Pen

Ill Crag above Little Narrowcove

The full view from Pen - Scafell, Scafell Pike, Broad Crag, Ill Crag, Esk Pike, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags

Scafell and Scafell Pike

I lingered on the summit for a while, savouring the views and the weather before plotting a route to Scafell Pike's summit. There is no path but, heading in a northwesterly westerly direction, a climb up the rocks of Rough Crag is not difficult. At Chambers Crag, a faint path does appear which I followed up onto the plateau.

Broad Crag

Climbing towards Scafell Pike

Chambers Crag

Scafell Pike's summit

Given the weather, Scafell Pike was relatively quiet. There was a group of guys from the Barbers of Windermere doing haircuts - raising money for Cancer Research. To be honest I can't think of a better place to get a haircut than on top of England's highest peak.

The gathering on the summit, including the three barbers

Great Gable and Sty Head

Pillar and Kirk Fell

The OS pillar on the summit

Blue skies over the Western Fells

The next stop was Scafell, first requiring descending to the stretcher box at Mickledore before skidding down a horrendously eroded route to Rakes Progress - the high-level path to the foot of Lord's Rake.

Scafell 

Scafell over Mickledore

The view into Eskdale

The Mickledore stretcher box

The view into Wasdale

Pulpit Rock

Lord's Rake is fairly famous - most notably because of a large boulder that was precariously perched at the top (it has now collapsed). It's a steep, scree-filled gully that presents one of only two ways for walkers to realistically link Scafell Pike and Scafell (the other being Foxes Tarn). I have been fairly pessimistic in my description of the rake in the past and now, having now done it a few times would describe it as a steep, slippery climb up loose scree. Keeping right offers better handholds in my opinion.

Lord's Rake

A memorial to fallen climbers is etched into the rock at the base

The shelter of the gully meant it was extremely warm in Lord's Rake, which continues on once you've climbed up to the top where the boulder once stood. It is here you can break out and climb the West Wall Traverse if you so desire. I stayed on the rake, dropping down before another steep, loose climb. There wasn't a soul around which, given the weather, was a surprise but is one of the reasons why I rank Scafell higher than its illustrious neighbour.

The foot of Lord's Rake

Lord's Rake

The view down the rake

The remains of the fallen boulder

The top of the rake

A view across Lingmell into Mosedale

After the rake, another short climb is required to reach the summit which has a superb view, right from the summit - another reason why it is better than Scafell Pike. It was also deserted.

Symonds Knott

Scafell's summit cairn

The view from Scafell

The ridge route from Scafell to Slight Side is excellent and starts a long descent back to Eskdale. Slight Side is another fine viewpoint and is a worthy place to stop for a while.

Bowfell and Crinkle Crags

Looking along the ridge towards Slight Side

Approaching Sliight Side

Slight Side's summit

Looking back to Scafell

Esk Pike at the head of Eskdale

After a pause at Slight Side, I started a steep descent, first down the path which leads off the summit before detouring off to cross rough ground. This culminated in a fairly pleasant scree slope that stopped in the valley below.

Bowfell

Hard Knott and Eskdale

Descending back to Eskdale

Eskdale

Before beginning my return to the car in earnest there were a couple of Birkett summits in my sights, the first being High Scarth which is a nice little top and has a very good panorama of upper Eskdale. The second, a short distance southeast, is Silverybield Crag.

Silverybield Crag

Horn Crag

The view from High Scarth

Bowfell and Great Moss

Eskdale

Silverybield Crag

On the home stretch, a path winds through the boggy uplands of Cowcove Beck until it becomes a more engineered track, snaking down to Eskdale near to Scale Gill and, ultimately, returning to the path I took in the morning to get back to Jubilee Bridge.

Cowcove

Harter Fell

Hard Knott

The home stretch

All in all, this has to be one of the best walks I've done in the Lake District for a long time. Pen, though lacking in prominence to count as a separate fell, is a magnificent summit - well worth an entry onto any hill-climbing list. A climb of Lord's Rake is always enjoyable and was pretty much perfect on this occasion thanks to the weather and the lack of crowds. If you're starting to delve deeper into the Lake District then I'd strongly urge you to make your way into Upper Eskdale.