Hard Knott

A very dull day with the cloud base around 400m and drizzly rain on and off. We had a later start today not setting off from Jubilee Bridge at the foot of the Hard Knott pass just before midday. It was a refreshing walk up Eskdale along the river Esk, with it's small waterfalls, to the picturesque Lingcove bridge where we had a bite to eat.

Slightly concerned about traversing Hard Knott fell in the mist and no paths marked on the map, we ascended up the right hand bank of Lingcove beck  following the path skirting between the beck and the small crag immediately above us. The gradient flattened and we continued, now in the mist  keeping the beck down on our left. Looking for some sort of path to head up towards Yew Bank we found it and although not marked, it was this path we were able to follow up the Hard Knott Summit and then descend back to the road at the top of the pass. Occasionally the path disappeared but a bit of compass work soon got us back on track without problems.

Unfortunately there would be no opportunities to see the Eskdale needle today.4

 Back to the car down the road, we discounted the path via the Roman fort because of the bog underfoot.

 

Time 5 hrs

Grade Excellent

Memories 

• Beautiful Eskdale, even with the tops in cloud
• Navigating across Hard Knott in mist
• The Herdwick sheep

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