Kentmere Pike

Summit cairn, Kentmere Pike: looking south

Height: 2397 feet above sea level.

Looking down on the trig point on Kentmere Pike summit (from the summit wall)

Volume: Book 2 (The Far Eastern Fells)

Date climbed: First visit: 2nd April 2011 (walk 35).

Second visit: 5th September 2014 (walk 87).

Bagged as number: First round: 111 out of 330. [ << Harter Fell (110)  (112) Shipman Knotts ]

Second round: 9 of 330. [ << Arthur’s Pike (8)  (10) Shipman Knotts >> ]

Route of ascent and descent: First visit: Approached on the ridge from Harter Fell, left on the ridge to Shipman Knotts.

Second visit: Came up from Longsleddale, via the route depicted on Wainwright’s page Kemtmere Pike 6 — a tough haul. Left the same way as last time.

What Mr Wainwright says (from page 2 of his chapter): “A high ridge, a counterpart to the Ill Bell range across Kentmere, rises steeply to enclose the upper part of that valley on the east. This is the south ridge of Harter Fell, which, soon after leaving the parent summit, swells into the bare, rounded top of Kentmere Pike…. The Kentmere slope, wooded at its foot and craggy above, is of little interest, but the eastern flank is altogether of sterner stuff, falling precipitously into the narrow jaws of Longsleddale: a most impressive scene.”

Kentmere Pike, from Goat Scar

What I say: Those words, and the diagram on page Kentmere Pike 6, suggest that Kentmere Pike concentrates all its scenic qualities on the Longsleddale side, and on my first visit the glimpse I had of this from Goat Scar suggests as much as well (although I wouldn’t say I got much of the full effect from there – see this pic). Other than that, most of what I saw of Kentmere Pike was rather dull and grassy.

On my second visit I made a specific point of coming up by what looked like the most interesting route. It certainly gives good views of Longsleddale (see below), but it is not really as dramatic a route as it looks on the page. Worth doing one time however — but a tough ascent.

It’s also worth pointing out that the two walks I’ve done which have included this fell have been two of the longest walks of all. This fell is remote from public transport, thanks to there being no bus service to Kentmere.

[ << Irton Pike      Kidsty Pike >> ]

The east face of Kentmere Pike, above Longsleddale. Steel Pike nearest the camera and Goat Scar in the middle distance.