Esk Pike (right) and Bowfell, from Esk Hause.
Height: 2903 feet above sea level.
Volume: Book 4 (The Southern Fells)
Esk Pike, from Rossett Pike.
Date climbed: 19th March 2011 (walk 34).
Bagged as number: 107 out of 330. [ << High Spy (106) (108) Bowfell >> ]
Route of ascent and descent: Ascended from Esk Hause, having climbed up Grains Gill from Seathwaite. Left down to Ore Gap and then on to Bowfell.
Esk Pike summit, with most of the northern half of Lakeland visible behind it.
What Mr Wainwright says (from page 2 of his chapter): “In the splendid panorama of the Eskdale skyline the fell is the least prominent… because its top is the furthest removed from the valley and appears dwarfed in relation to the others. Yet this is, in fact, a most attractive summit, deserving a separate ascent but invariably combined with a greater objective, Bowfell. Did it but stand alone, away from such enticing neighbours, Esk Pike would rank highly among the really worthwhile mountain climbs.”
What I say: Can’t dispute the veracity of Wainwright’s observations seeing as I did, indeed, combine the climb of Esk Pike with that of Bowfell. It was a decent climb but without any single impressive feature to really distinguish it, although its sheer altitude alone gives it an excellent view, with the entire Lake District seemingly visible.
Incidentally, should you be going down to Ore Gap, have a look at how the soil changes from grey to red and back to grey again in a very solid-looking stripe through the centre of the depression. This is geology as visible fact, and must be the ‘pronounced vein of hematite’ mentioned by Wainwright on page Bowfell 3.
