Yoke

Yoke takes its name from the Old English geoc, which is related to the German Joch, a mountain ridge. From either side you climb it from Garburn Pass, the old byway between Troutbeck and Kentmere. At the highest point of the pass you turn north and follow the wall over boggy ground to the summit. The climb from the pass is steady grass with no scrambling.

From Kentmere, walk up the lane to The Nook and take the rough track over Crabtree Brow to the pass. Kentmere has almost no parking: a spot for fewer than six cars beside the village hall, opposite St Cuthbert's church. Get there early. From Troutbeck, go up the Garburn Road from the village. Cattle graze on the pass and up to the summit of Yoke all year round, so watch for them near Stile End.

Yoke is the first top on the Kentmere Horseshoe, the round of about 19 km and 1,100 metres of climbing that carries on over Ill Bell, Froswick, Thornthwaite Crag, Mardale Ill Bell, Harter Fell, Kentmere Pike and Shipman Knotts. From Troutbeck, a shorter round takes in Sour Howes and Sallows, crosses Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick, and comes home by Hagg Gill.

Rainsborrow Crag

On the Kentmere side the fell falls away in Rainsborrow Crag, a 300 metre precipice down to the valley floor, with the small Rainsborrow Tarn perched on its edge. From Star Crag, a short way north east of the top, you look down on Kentmere Reservoir. From the summit, Windermere and Morecambe Bay are in view to the south, and better still from a cairn 100 metres further south. Ill Bell blocks the view north.