Cold Pike | |
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![]() Cold Pike from Great Knott | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 701 m (2,300 ft) |
Prominence | c. 46 m |
Parent peak | Crinkle Crags |
Listing | Hewitt, Nuttall, Wainwright |
Coordinates | 54°25′16″N3°08′02″W / 54.421°N 3.134°W |
Geography | |
Location | Cumbria, England |
Parent range | Lake District, Southern Fells |
OS grid | NY262035 |
Topo map | OS Landranger 90, Explorer OL6 |
Name | Grid ref | Height | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Cold Pike West Top | NY258035 | 683 m (2,241 ft) | Nuttall |
Cold Pike Far West Top | NY256037 | 670 m (2,198 ft) | Nuttall |
Cold Pike is a fell in the English Lake District. It is a satellite of Crinkle Crags and stands above the Upper Duddon Valley.
When travelling clockwise, Crinkle Crags is the last of the high cirque of fells forming the head of upper Eskdale. It sends out a trio of ridges to the south, running parallel like the prongs of a trident. Working from the west these ridges culminate in Hard Knott, Little Stand and Cold Pike. The Cold Pike ridge begins indistinctly in an area of rocky knolls and small tarns beneath the Fifth Crinkle. Gradually gaining definition it descends to a broad grassy saddle before rising again to the summit plateau of Cold Pike. To the north of the saddle is Great Knott at 2,283 feet (696 m). This top is considered by most guidebooks to be a subsidiary of Crinkle Crags rather than the nearer Cold Pike. [1] [2] Beyond the summit the ridge continues for another one-half mile (800 m) south eastward before falling steeply over the many tiered crags of Wrynose Breast.
Wrynose Breast stands above the nascent Duddon and the Wrynose Pass road, which provides the only vehicular link between central Lakeland and the Duddon Valley. Together with Hardknott Pass to the west, Wrynose is the latest incarnation of the Roman road from Ambleside to the port of Ravenglass.
To the west of Cold Pike is the Gaitscale Beck, the watercourse separating it from Little Stand. To the east across a wide low col is Pike of Blisco, a conical fell with its footing firmly in Langdale. The source of the River Duddon flows south from this col, curving westward around the foot of Wrynose Breast. To the north is Red Tarn, a feeder via Oxendale of Great Langdale Beck. Red Tarn is an elongated pool whose stony bed can be seen through clear shallow waters, reputed to hold trout. [3] It forms a focal point for walkers as the wide path from the summit of Wrynose Pass down to Stool End runs beside it, a further path branching off across the outflow to Crinkle Crags.
The fell top is composed of dacite lava flows with the volcaniclastic sandstones and tuffs of the Blisco Member outcropping to the south. [4]
The main Red Tarn path was originally made to serve Red Crag Mine. This consists of a series of pits and trial borings for iron, concentrated about 300 yards (270 m) north of the tarn. It was worked from 1860 to 1875 but never achieved commercial success. [5]
The summit plateau of Cold Pike has three widely separated summits, all of which are listed as nuttalls. The lower two are unnamed on Ordnance Survey maps, but are generally referred to as Cold Pike West Top and Cold Pike Far West Top. [6] The true summit is itself one of a series of three outcrops in a mild echoing of Crinkle Crags. Each has a cairn, the highest being a fine example. The top is an excellent place from which to survey Crinkle Crags, the Langdale Pikes, and the northern end of the Coniston Fells across Wrynose Bottom; there is a fine distant prospect of the Pennines above Windermere, and Morecambe Bay above the Duddon Valley. [1] [2]
Cold Pike can be reached easily via Red Tarn from the carpark at the summit of Wrynose Pass. It can also be climbed (less easily) from Great Langdale. More ‘honest’ walkers beginning in the south may wish to start from Little Langdale or Wrynose Bottom, first ascending Wrynose Pass. A direct route from Wrynose Bottom is also possible although pathless, skirting around the left of the crags. A consideration here is that the Duddon will need to be forded when starting out. [2] Cold Pike is often seen as a worthwhile detour en route to Crinkle Crags.
Bowfell is a pyramid-shaped mountain lying at the heart of the English Lake District, in the Southern Fells area. It is the sixth-highest mountain in the Lake District and one of the most popular of the Lake District fells for walkers. It is listed in Alfred Wainwright's 'best half dozen' Lake District fells.
Crinkle Crags is a fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. It forms part of two major rings of mountains, surrounding the valleys of Great Langdale and Upper Eskdale. The name reflects the fell's physical appearance as its summit ridge is a series of five rises and depressions (crinkles) that are very distinctive from the valley floor. In Old English, cringol means twisted or wrinkled.
The Wrynose Pass is a mountain pass in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England between the Duddon Valley and Little Langdale.
Harter Fell is a fell in the western part of the English Lake District, located between the Eskdale and Duddon valleys. Its height is 653 metres (2,142 ft) There are several walking routes to the summit.
Esk Pike is a fell in the English Lake District, one of the cirque of hills forming the head of Eskdale.
Great Langdale is a valley in the Lake District National Park in North West England, the epithet "Great" distinguishing it from the neighbouring valley of Little Langdale. Langdale is also the name of a valley in the Howgill Fells, elsewhere in Cumbria.
Pike of Stickle, also known as Pike o’ Stickle, is a fell in the English Lake District. It reaches a height of 709 metres (2,326 ft) and is situated in the central part of the national park in the valley of Great Langdale. The fell is one of three fells which make up the picturesque Langdale Pikes, one of the best-known areas in Lakeland. A "stickle" is a hill with a steep prominent rocky top, while a "pike" is a hill with a peaked summit, the name being therefore partly tautological.
Pike o' Blisco, or Pike of Blisco, is a mountain in the Lake District in Cumbria, England. Located between the valleys of Great Langdale and Little Langdale, its relative isolation from neighbouring fells together with slopes falling away immediately from the summit in all directions mean it has excellent views: the view of the Langdale Pikes across Great Langdale is particularly arresting.
Thunacar Knott is a fell in the central part of the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria.
Dow Crag is a fell in the English Lake District near Coniston, Cumbria. The eastern face is one of the many rock faces in the Lake District used for rock climbing.
Calf Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, on the eastern side of the High Raise massif.
Grey Friar is a fell in the English Lake District, it is one of the Coniston Fells and is situated 13 kilometres west-south-west of Ambleside. It reaches a height of 770 metres and stands to the north west of the other Coniston Fells, a little off the beaten track and tends to be the least visited of the group. It is quite a large fell and forms the eastern wall of the Duddon Valley for several kilometres, in fact all drainage from Grey Friar goes to the Duddon Valley and not to Coniston Water.
Rossett Pike is a fell in the English Lake District. It is located at the head of Mickleden, one of two tributary valleys of Great Langdale.
Swirl How is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands between Coniston and the Duddon Valley in the southern part of the District. It rivals the Old Man of Coniston as the highest point within the traditional County Palatine of Lancashire.
Brim Fell is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands to the west of Coniston village in the southern part of the District.
Great Carrs is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands above Wrynose Pass in the southern part of the District.
Green Crag is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands between Eskdale and the Duddon valley in the Southern Fells.
The Central Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Reaching their highest point at High Raise, they occupy a broad area to the east of Borrowdale. The Central Fells are generally lower than the surrounding hills, the Lake District's dome-like structure having a slight dip in the middle. The range extends from the boggy ridge between Derwentwater and Thirlmere in the north, to the rock peaks of the Langdale Pikes in the south.
The Southern Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Including Scafell Pike, the highest peak in England, they occupy a broad area to the south of Great Langdale, Borrowdale and Wasdale. High and rocky towards the centre of the Lake District, the Southern Fells progressively take on a moorland character toward the south-west. In the south-east are the well-known Furness Fells, their heavily quarried flanks rising above Coniston Water.
The Langdale Horseshoe is an annual Lake District fell race that starts and finishes at the Old Dungeon Ghyll. The course climbs to Stickle Tarn before heading to Thunacar Knott, Esk Hause shelter, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags and Pike of Blisco. The route is approximately 21 kilometres (13 mi) in length with 1,450 metres (4,760 ft) of ascent. It includes much rough and rocky ground. On the descent from Crinkle Crags, many runners negotiate the Bad Step, although it can be avoided depending on route choice. The race often presents navigational difficulties, especially in poor visibility.