High Crag

High Crag stands on the Helvellyn Range in the eastern Lake District, a narrow rocky ridge south of Helvellyn and Nethermost Pike. It rises sharply above Ruthwaite Cove, a bowl-shaped hollow on the fell’s eastern side. The fell is built almost entirely of lapilli tuff, a tough volcanic rock laid down in a single huge eruption. A small cairn marks the summit at 884 metres, only thirteen metres above the connecting ridge. To the west the ground falls gently towards Nethermost Pike, while the eastern face drops steeply into Ruthwaite Cove. The fell attracts rock climbers to its two gullies and a prominent buttress on the east face. Walkers reach the top by leaving the main ridge path for a short spur that rejoins the ridge after sixty metres. The summit cairn is flat and easy to spot from neighbouring fells. From this high point the view plunges down into Ruthwaite Cove, where Hard Tarn glints below the flanking ridges of Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike. Beyond the cove the eye follows Grisedale to Ullswater and Place Fell, with the Pennine Hills fading into the distance. The summit offers a quiet perch above the ordinary paths of the Helvellyn range. The lapilli tuff that makes the crag was formed 450 million years ago when hot gas and rock poured from an ancient volcano. Each layer of tuff contains flattened lapilli, pieces of semi-molten lava pressed flat by later deposits. The ridge itself is part of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, evidence of a violent past now wrapped in the calm of the Lake District fells.