Day 6: Eskdale - Langdale, 43km

This is the last big mountain day involving much scrambling, but also lovely valleys and classic hostelries

Once you reach the road, turn left up to Hard Knott Fort, a Roman fort that's worth a good look round before scrambling up Harter Fell, an isolated, excellent viewpoint.  The way to Wallowbarrow wouldn't make anyone's top ten walks, but the crag itself is set in a fine location and is a popular haunt of rock climbers.

Harter Fell from near Seathwaite

Call in at the Newfield Inn for a pint in the bucolic loveliness of the Duddon valley. There's a good camp site just up the road and a camping barn near Wallowbarrow.

Otherwise, the pilgrimage leads on in a low level scramble up Throng Buttress  or by the normal path up to seathwaite Tarn.  You can either walk up Grey Friar on a  small path or continue along the tarn and scramble up Great Blake Rigg.  From there, its a high level ridge passing the remains of a crashed plane near Great Carrs.  The day continues with a scramble that scales the ramparts of Dow Crag via a climber's descent route, or else you can simply walk along the ridge to the summit.  There are better scrambling routes but these are likely to prove too difficult with a large pack, but if you're out for the day, Giant's Crawl or one of the buttress routes would provide a finer route to the top.


Rather than descending the normal route from Coniston Old Man, reverse your steps to Brim Fell and descend rough ground to Levers water so that you can savour the full ambience of the combe and the aptly named Boulder Valley that leads down to the Miners Bridge.  Memories of a mining past are everywhere as you cross to Tilberthwaite, a rather lovely gorge.  The culmination of this tour through history is reached at Cathedral Cave, an impressive cavern near Little Langdale.

Langdale Pikes from Elterwater

Its worth the detour to the Three Shires Inn and do make sure to cross the characterful Slaters Bridge before following the footpath to one of the Lake District's beauty spots, Blea Tarn.  It might be much photographed but the reason will soon become obvious, with the Langdale Pikes framed by Side Pike and Blake Rigg.  The former is a singular little summit that's worth the brief detour before dropping down to the Old Dungeon Ghyll for well earned refreshment.  There's a camp site here as well as hotel accommodation.

Day 6 Details