Long Walk Round Ling Cove - Photo Gallery

Every day on the hills is different, you may have walked and photographed all of the Lake District fells but there are still so many things still to learn the place. On a good day I have the opportunity to explore and try different routes. I have set myself an ambitious target, a long walk around Ling Cove doesn't begin to describe the variety of the walk. I parked the car at Jubilee Bridge at the bottom of the Hard Knott Pass near to the entrance to Brotherilkeld Farm and started walking uphill. The weather is generally dry and bright, warm enough to walk in shorts but the higher hills are covered in mist and there is moisture in the air.

Just as the road begins to twist into tight bends there is a signed footpath uphill to the left that is a much easier walk than the tarmac. The path takes you to the front entrance of the remains of the Roman fort of Mediobogdvm, allegedly some of the walls are the original construction but it all looks recently rebuilt. I walked around the walls and was surprised to find rounded corners, it struck me as being a bit informal and un-Roman. There is a faint path going across the grassy area which is supposed to be their parade ground and then over wet ground before the bracken takes over.

The path follows the edge of the bracken before turning right into the thick of it, that is the way to the crest of the pass and as I found out recently you can easily lose the path and end up fighting your way through chest high vegetation. I didn't turn right but carried on over wetter ground keeping close to the bracken until the first obvious rock outcrop, a much better prospect than the swampy ground ahead. For a while there is a succession of rock outcrops to climb up or walk around, as you prefer, but always heading upwards to the skyline and hopefully a ridge.

There are traces of a path upwards, I am not following it but in keeping to what seems to be a natural line of ascent I keep coming across the path. The one footprint I saw in the mud confirms I am not the first to come this way but it is a running shoe not a walking boot that made the print. There are good views down to Eskdale and Lingcove Bridge where Lingcove Beck joins the River Esk as it pours down from the Great Moss. There was a brief drizzly shower earlier but now it is dry again but the Scafell group is still covered in mist, will it clear before I get there?

Eventually after an interesting walk up an unspoiled ridge I reached the summit plateau of Border End; I looked at my map to work out the route to Hard Knott when I realised I had been here before. This is what I took to be Hard Knott on a previous visit so when I get there it will be my first visit to that summit, it isn't the first time a second visit to a hill becomes my first visit. Anyway there is no mistake as to where Hard Knott is, descend to a wet depression to make my first crossing of the electrified fence that runs the length of Hard Knott and climb the the slope on the opposite side of the fence.

After climbing up rough ground to what appears to be the summit you can see the summit beyond a marshy depression, in common with many lower hills what it lacks in height it makes up for in girth. Finally at the summit of Hard Knott the visibility is getting better all the time, the only interference in the view being the masses of moving mist over the tops of the Scafell and Coniston hills. There is an unlikely path heading northwards from the summit, almost following the electrified fence but you have to use the insulated stiles another three times as path and fence cross each other.

As the gradient eases there is a prominent cairn on a rock outcrop, a seemingly meaningless pile of rocks until you look down and you can see the junction of two paths whose position is obviously marked by the cairn. Now straight ahead you can see Bowfell and Esk Pike with Yeastyrigg Gill making its way up to Ore Gap between the two hills. Just before you reach Lingcove beck you cross an obvious path heading for Moasdale but also branching off by the side of the beck towards Three Tarns. I carried on down to the beck first to have a look at the mini canyon and waterfalls marked on the map, there is no place here to cross the beck.

I made my way upstream over marshy ground by the side of the beck until I rejoined the path going towards Bowfell. I could tell I was going away from where I wanted to be but I had gone past the place to cross Lingcove Beck, the direct route towards Green Hole and Yeastyrigg Gill would be bouldery and boggy. The path crosses the boulder filled gully of Rest Gill and continues to slant upwards until it crosses a smaller gully with a bit more obvious water in it than rest Gill. The path then takes a noticeable turn uphill and this was where I left it to follow the contours around the head of Ling Cove.

I am assuming it is Ling Cove anyway because that is where Lingcove Beck ends up before Yeastyrigg Gill takes over the baton for the last lap to Ore Gap. The ground is generally good with a few easy boulders to get past and no swamps although the grass is steep enough to be awkward in wet weather. It's unlikely that anybody else ever comes this way but there is some evidence of flattened grass following the contours, I never feel that I am truly the first person to get to any part of the fells.

Eventually I got to the ridge alongside Yeastyrigg Gill expecting to have to descend to the gill but a faint path goes up along the shoulder. The path is just plain steep grass to begin with but higher up is the steepness and the bouldery scramble I had expected. There are some impressive and interesting looking boulders, how did they get there and how were those parallel scratch patterns made; looking up at Yeastyrigg Crags it looks like blocks could pop out of the rock face at any time. What I didn't expect after that was just how far it is to Ore Gap, a gentle but energy sapping slope of almost plateau like flatness, after a fifteen minute slog I decided on a more direct approach.

I crossed the stream where it was narrow enough to do so and climbed up the green flanks of Esk Pike, not directly upwards but slanting towards where I thought the summit would be. It wasn't much more difficult than walking beside the stream and fairly soon I was on the south ridge of Esk Pike, the rocky summit crown was visible ahead. I hadn't realised just how extensive Esk Pike was but then I have never climbed it before having only ever crossed it to get from Esk Hause to Ore Gap. The views from the summit are extensive, most of the mist has now gone with just the Scafell group hanging onto its own white cloud.

Now I'm in a busy part of the fells having seen hardly anybody in over four hours, it isn't the busiest part of the day but there are still plenty of holidaymakers on the route from Esk Hause to you know where. I have no problem with lots of people being around, it's just a shame that this is all they see of the fells although it isn't a bad consolation. The familiar walk from Esk Hause to Calf Cove is made a little easier now that the worst of the erosion at the top end has been fixed by a well constructed path. The use of large flat stones with gaps between to let the water drain is how a pitched path should be, walkers want to use these paths and erosion is prevented, bad slippery paths cause erosion because walkers tread new paths at the side of them.

Then you have the boulder hopping that I enjoy, especially when the rocks are not slippery, and then you are on the flatness of Ill Crag, it's a good enough day to visit the summit, it's a pity that I'm a pit pushed for time today. The stony descent from Ill Crag must surely be a suitable candidate for a good path but the ascent of Broad Crag is over harder ground with lots of good boulders to hop across especially near the summit. The descent to Broad Crag col and the final ascent of Scafell Pike must be one of the busiest areas of the Lake District but the busiest by far is the summit of Scafell Pike, even late in the afternoon it is still full of people.

The descent to Mickledore is about the roughest, stoniest popular path you could get anywhere, Scafell looks good today I wish I had time to climb it. The descent of the wide gully from Mickledore towards Eskdale starts with a very steep and stony section, not as bad as the descent to Hollow Stones but it is nowhere near as busy. It isn't as bad as it used to be on the Scafell Pike side of the gully, most of the loose shale has been worn away to leave a soily surface to walk on. Then suddenly the stones are gone and you have grass and boulders to walk over, it is time to switch to the Scafell side of the gully for a quick look up Foxes Tarn Gully. There is a final badly eroded section of path to get down before you are walking on almost level ground for a while.

This is a lovely path, easy walking downhill surrounded by big hills and accompanied by streams and waterfalls. Lovely suddenly becomes rugged as you get to Cam Spout, a high waterfall dropping down to Eskdale where you scramble steeply down the crags by the side of the waterfall. This is a spectacular but more demanding place when there is a lot of water about but I'm happy enough that the rocks are dry. It is quite steep with very few handholds, the fifth point of contact being used as and when required.

At the bottom of the waterfalls the ground is very flat, but the name Great Moss gives a clue that this is not an easy place to get across and I have had trouble navigating here in the mist. After some deliberation I decided to try to cross the moss rather than take the (slightly) drier long path southwards. Without crossing the stream follow it into the wet grass until you get to the young River Esk, I have to search for a minute before finding a reasonable fording place a little way upstream. Then the faint path takes you through wet ground, swampy in places even at this dry time of year and almost impossible in winter.

There is a ruined wall that can be helpful to bypass a couple of wet spots and there is another stream where you have to search for a viable place a little way downstream to cross it. You think you have passed the worst when you get to dry land but it is only an island and you are back in the swamp again, you have to be vigilant to keep to the path. Don't underestimate the wetness of this place, there is no such thing as a good swamp but if there were this would be the best, today was the easiest I have seen it but it was still uncomfortably close to filling my boots.

Eventually you do get to dry land and an obvious path although it has its own boggy obstacles on its way to Scar Lathing. Keep your eyes open for a faint path turning right leading to some precarious looking stepping stones across crystal clear water. More swamp and mud has to be crossed before you get to a proper path following the River Esk between Green Crag and Throstlehow Crag, only then do you start the long descent back to the car park.

Just before I got to Lingcove Bridge I met three nice young men in smart casual wear who asked if the path I was coming down would take them back to the village of Boot. Those smart trainers wouldn't survive going though the Great Moss, climbing by the side of Cam Spout, Foxes Tarn Gully and the scree to the summit of Scafell before the walk back to Boot. The scariest part was that they thought they could do the walk to “Scafell” and back in three hours even without a map and they clearly didn't know the difference between Scafell and Scafell Pike. Is it just me or is it really not that easy?

Anyway after crossing Lingcove Bridge you get to the best part of the young River Esk, a mini canyon with waterfalls and pools of crystal clear water, the multi coloured stones making the pools look very blue. I'm afraid my camera batteries ran out on me here so no photographs, I was marching by now and didn't have time to stop and put my spares in. Another three kilometres to walk over rough paths before getting back to the road, that final short climb to the car park was very hard.

One on the longest walks I have done and I forgot my pedometer so I can't even boast about how far it was, probably my longest ever story too I hope I haven't rambled on too much.

Andy Wallace 6th August 2005