Pillar

Pillar is a big day from Wasdale Head. Walk up Mosedale to Black Sail Pass, the main foot pass between Wasdale and Ennerdale, which tops out at around 545m. There is no bus into Wasdale. Park at Wasdale Head or, for the full Mosedale Horseshoe, at Overbeck Bridge on the shore of Wast Water. From the top of the pass the east ridge goes over Looking Stead and up to the summit on a clear path.

The High Level Route

At around 640m on the ridge, a narrow path branches off to the right and traverses the Ennerdale face. It passes Robinson's Cairn, put up by friends of the climber John Wilson Robinson after his death in 1907, and crosses the Shamrock Traverse, an exposed but clear ledge path over an open gully. It leads to the foot of Pillar Rock and then climbs steeply to the summit. It is a walkers' path, but you need a steady head and dry rock.

Pillar Rock is the big buttress below the summit on the Ennerdale side. John Atkinson of Ennerdale made the first recorded ascent in 1826, and it is often called the birthplace of Lakeland rock climbing. It is the only summit on the Nuttall list that you cannot reach without climbing.

The top of Pillar is surprisingly broad and grassy, with a trig pillar, a cairn and a wind shelter. A second shelter on the northern edge marks the way down to the High Level Route. On a clear day you can see almost every major group except the Coniston fells, along with Ennerdale Water and Loweswater. Strong walkers carry on over Scoat Fell and Red Pike and finish over Yewbarrow, though the climb up Stirrup Crag onto Yewbarrow is a real scramble.