View source for Cold Pike

{{Short description|Fell in the Lake District, Cumbria, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Cold Pike
| photo = Cold_Pike_from_Great_Knott.jpg
| photo_caption = Cold Pike from Great Knott
| elevation_m = 701
| elevation_ref = 
| prominence = ''c.'' 46 m
| parent_peak = [[Crinkle Crags]]
| listing = [[Hewitt (hill)|Hewitt]], [[Nuttall (hill)|Nuttall]], [[List of Wainwrights|Wainwright]]
| location = [[Cumbria]], England
| range = [[Lake District]], [[Southern Fells]]
| coordinates = {{coord|54.421|N|3.134|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| grid_ref_UK = NY262035
| topo = [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] ''Landranger'' 90, ''Explorer'' OL6
| map = United Kingdom Lake District#United Kingdom Copeland#United Kingdom South Lakeland
| map_caption = Location in the Lake District##Location in Copeland Borough##Location in South Lakeland
}}

{{GB summits start}}
{{GB summits entry
|Name=Cold Pike West Top
|Gridref=NY258035
|Height=683&nbsp;m (2,241&nbsp;ft)
|Status=Nuttall}}
{{GB summits entry
|Name=Cold Pike Far West Top
|Gridref=NY256037
|Height=670&nbsp;m (2,198&nbsp;ft)
|Status=Nuttall}}
{{end}}

'''Cold Pike''' is a [[fell]] in the English [[Lake District]].  It is a satellite of [[Crinkle Crags]] and stands above the Upper [[Duddon Valley]].

==Topography==
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 [[tarn (lake)|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 {{convert|2283|ft}}.  This top is considered by most guidebooks to be a subsidiary of Crinkle Crags rather than the nearer Cold Pike.<ref name="wainwright">[[Alfred Wainwright]]: ''[[A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells]]'', Book 4: {{ISBN|0-7112-2457-9}}</ref><ref name="richards">Richards, Mark: ''Mid-Western Fells'': Collins (2004): {{ISBN|0-00-711368-4}}</ref>  Beyond the summit the ridge continues for another {{convert|1/2|mile|m|spell=in|-1}} 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 [[Ancient Rome|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 [[mountain pass|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.<ref name="blair">Blair, Don: ''Exploring Lakeland Tarns'': Lakeland Manor Press (2003): {{ISBN|0-9543904-1-5}}</ref>  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.

==Geology==

The fell top is composed of [[dacite]] [[lava]] flows with the [[volcaniclastic]] [[sandstone]]s and [[tuff]]s of the Blisco Member outcropping to the south.<ref name="BGS">[[British Geological Survey]]: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 38'': BGS (1998)</ref>

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 {{convert|300|yard|m}} north of the tarn.  It was worked from 1860 to 1875 but never achieved commercial success.<ref name="adams">Adams, John: ''Mines of the Lake District Fells'': Dalesman (1995) {{ISBN|0-85206-931-6}}</ref>

==Summit==
The summit plateau of Cold Pike has three widely separated summits, all of which are listed as [[nuttall (hill)|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'''.<ref>Nuttall, John & Anne: ''The Mountains of England & Wales - Volume 2: England'' (2nd edition): Cicerone (1990): {{ISBN|1-85284-037-4}}</ref>  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]].<ref name="wainwright"/><ref name="richards"/>
*[http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/ENGP/Cold%20Pike.png Panorama]

==Ascents==
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.<ref name="richards"/>  Cold Pike is often seen as a worthwhile detour ''en route'' to Crinkle Crags.

==References==
<references/>
{{Southern Fells}}

[[Category:Hewitts of England]]
[[Category:Fells of the Lake District]]
[[Category:Nuttalls]]
[[Category:Cumberland (unitary authority)]]
[[Category:Westmorland and Furness]]