The Mountains of England and Wales: Volume 2 England
The Mountains of England and Wales: Volume 2 England
Price
£12.99
Walk 5.2 Bowfell
Summits: Bowfell 2959 ft (902m); Bowfell North Top 2841 ft (866m); Esk Pike 2904 ft (885m); Rossett Pike 2136 ft (651m)
Distance: 9 miles
Ascent: 3400 feet
Maps: OS Landranger sheet 89 or 90; Outdoor Leisure - The English Lakes,South Western area
Starting Point: (89?286061) The head of Great Langdale, 7 miles west of Ambleside. Car park by the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel.
If Bowfell were a few feet higher it would be a three thousander, but then like Great Gable it has no need of feet or metres to give it status, it is a magnificent mountain, one of the finest in the Lake District. Massive buttresses face east at the head of the Langdale valley, to the south Bowfell Links presents an impregnable face, while to the north a rugged line of rocks descends to Hanging Knotts overlooking Angle Tarn. Above these ramparts is the summit, a tangled mass of boulders through which tiny figures wind their way to their goal, the cairn at the very top.
As the sky darkened to a thunderous black, large white snowflakes began to fall. Soon the path had vanished and with it the patches of ice that now lay hidden awaiting the first careless step. The wind rose and the snow whirled along in gusts, piling up on the rocks and freezing our gloves into blocks of ice. We turned and fled; slowly, carefully, probing each downward step until we were safely descending The Band. Many years later and again we were descending Bowfell. The sky again was black, but this time it was fast approaching night and our head torches stabbed the darkness as we picked our way slowly down The Band to the friendly warmth of the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. Another time, another impression; waking on Crinkle Crags in our snow covered mountain tent to see through the doorway Bowfell brilliantly white against the clear blue sky of the early morning.
While the name Bowfell dates back to the thirteenth century and derives from a person called Bowe, Esk Pike was nameless before 1870 when it was christened by Mr JC Ward, a geologist, the author of ‘The Geology Of The Northern Part Of The English Lake District’ which was published in 1876. Between the two lies Ore Gap where the ground is stained red by haematite. In medieval times the iron ore was mined here by the monks from Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire and transported all the way down Langstrath to an iron smelter on Smithymire Island at the confluence of Greenup Gill and Langstrath Beck. Mining was resumed in the eighteenth century and at one time there was a proposal to construct a rack railway to mine the ore, but fortunately this was thought to be an uneconomical plan. The iron in the rocks on Bowfell is reputed to affect the compass, but although a special survey concluded that it was only noticeable if the compass was laid on a rock, to us even this effect has proved elusive and as haematite is non magnetic it seems unlikely to be true.
While the lower reaches have been re-paved, Rossett Gill itself remains unimproved and it is a rough descent to the moraines at its foot, the head of Mickleden. This way over the mountains to the sea is very old and was probably the route to the outside world for the axes from the Langdale Pikes stone axe factory. On a grassy shelf beside Rossett Gill is the Old Packwoman’s grave, a cross of stones laid to mark her lonely passing.
Route Description
BOWFELL (Bowe’s Fell)
From the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel go out to the road, turn right and then through the gate signed ‘Stool End’. The track leads across the fields to Stool End farm, going to the left of the farmhouse. Just beyond the gate the repaired path turns right up The Band. This is the most usual route up Bowfell and one passes or is passed, depending on one’s relative fitness, by many other walkers as one climbs the ridge. It usually seems further than it is with little to provide excuse for a stop. However, where the ground flattens before the final climb to Three Tarns, the crowds may be left by forking right to climb above the main path to the Climbers’ Traverse. This is not as its name suggests a fearsome passage where one clings by fingertips above a vertical precipice, but a very pleasant narrow path beneath Bowfell’s eastern buttresses. The path ambles along keeping beneath the cliffs for about a quarter of a mile until a spring is reached and a scree slope leading up beside the Great Slab of Flat Crags.This gigantic slab is set at such an angle that it can just be walked up, though most people stay for much of the ascent on the scree to its right. On arriving at the top, climb west over rough boulders with encourging cairns for another 300 yards. The highest point is a jumble of rocks surmounted by a cairn and scattered with parties of fellwalkers having lunch. They are usually there whatever the weather as there are plenty of recesses in which to get out of the wind. The view has on nearly all our visits over the years been excellent. An odd foggy day and once a nasty surprise when black clouds were seen racing in to blot out the blue sky with a blizzard, but on many trips we have sat by the cairn and picked out favourite summits on the skyline: the Scafells of course, Skiddaw, Helvellyn, the Coniston fells and many more.
BOWFELL NORTH TOP
Descend over the rocks and stroll easily north for about half a mile to the end of the northern ridge where a rise of just 50 ft distinguishes this top. Great Gable now comes into view behind Great End, almost, but not quite concealed by the nearer Esk Pike.
ESK PIKE (Esk Peak)
Descending west the main path is rejoined and this leads down to Ore Gap. The path now climbs easily to the summit of Esk Pike where there are two rocky rises of which the one to the south-west is higher, though the other boasts the cairn.
ROSSETT PIKE (Horse Upland Pasture Peak)
The path, slightly west of north, goes down over rocky ground becoming grassy as Esk Hause is approached. Cutting the corner, go down to the wall shelter about 300 yards north-west where the main highway to Langdale is joined. It would be difficult to go wrong here, but it has been done; the way required is east down to the head of Allencrags Gill followed by a slight rise before the descent continues to Angle Tarn. If it is late afternoon there will already be people setting up their tents for this must be the most popular high campsite in the Lake District. From Angle Tarn the path climbs again to reach the head of Rossett Gill with the Pike above it on the left. It is the work of only a moment to reach this last top where there is a cairn a few yards beyond the highest point and to the right a good downward view of Rossett Gill and east across to the Langdale Pikes.
Retrace your steps to the head of Rossett Gill as a direct descent from the summit is much too steep. The gill itself is loose, but not as bad as some Lakeland paths and the zigzag packhorse route which avoids the top section is not much better and also longer. From the foot of the gill the path has been neatly restored with stone blocks and in half a mile the footbridge over Stake Gill is reached. All that remains is the 2 miles back down Mickleden to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel with lengthening shadows chasing your footsteps.
Recent articles:
Related titles:
Frequently Asked Questions:
