The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

Cribyn & N escarpment

from Pen y Fan

94 The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

I’d decided on a route that
started at the end of the public
road – the car park at Bowness
Knott – and took in Steeple and
Pillar. It was a gloriously sunny
Sunday morning in May as I
strode out beside Ennerdale
Water. Yet there were few others
on the track by the exceptionally
clear waters of the lake.
he valley was more
beautiful than I had expected.
Wainwright paints a picture
of it being ruined by conifer
plantations but the lower
part has much in the way of
deciduous trees. Even the
plantations of spruce and larch
in the upper parts of the valley
weren’t as overpowering as
perhaps they once were. Work
is ongoing to diminish the non-
native conifers and to return the
valley to looking how it should.
Ater crossing the River Liza
I was soon climbing out of the

forestry up heathery slopes,

pausing frequently to admire

the views back to Ennerdale

Water. I forded Low Beck and

started the slow burn of a climb

that is Steeple’s northern ridge.

he views got better and better

with every footstep. Before long

I arrived on the airy summit of

Steeple and was struck by the

near-total silence. No wind,

no traic noise, and I hadn’t

seen a soul for nearly three

hours. It was something I’d only

experienced in the Highlands.

I pressed on, crossing

the sumptuous little ridge

connecting Steeple to Scoat Fell.

Once on its bouldery top it was

understandably busier with

walkers who had started from

Wasdale Head. Ater a steep

and rocky negotiation of Wind

Gap, I was soon on the summit

plateau of Pillar where I avoided

several people clustered at the

summit cairn to sit near the

wind shelter, with a great view

down to Pillar Rock.

Total solitude was restored

the moment I set of down

the north-western ridge back

towards Ennerdale via White

Pike. Keeping to its northern

edge allowed awe-inspiring

views of Pillar Rock’s western

side. It seemed a long way back

to Bowness Knott and, again, I

didn’t come across anyone else

until across the Liza and back

on the main Ennerdale track.

Back at the car I was

exhausted but exhilarated. It

had been a memorable day and

I was overjoyed to discover that

a place like Ennerdale can still

exist in somewhere as well-

trodden as the Lake District. It

really does feel like a little piece

of the Highlands transported

to England: peaceful, beautiful

and – yes – wild.

Further information

Maps: OS 1:25,000

Explorer Sheet OL4

(English Lakes North-West);

Harveys 1:40,000 British

Mountain Map (Lake District)

Transport: None to

the start

i

Information: Egremont

TIC, 01946 820693. email:

[email protected]

[Captions clockwise from top]

Looking back to Ennerdale

Water after leaving the

forestry; Steeple from Scoat

Fell; Pillar Rock from Pillar’s

north-west ridge