Pike of Blisco

Pike o’ Blisco stands on a high ridge that runs south-east from the Scafell massif. The ridge passes Esk Pike, Bow Fell, Crinkle Crags and Cold Pike before reaching Pike o’ Blisco. From the summit the land falls away steeply in every direction, giving wide views across Great Langdale and Little Langdale. To the north lies Oxendale, a branch of Great Langdale, while to the south-east is Little Langdale. Beyond the southern slopes the Wrynose Pass climbs to 393 metres, linking Little Langdale with the Duddon Valley and the Coniston Fells.

Alfred Wainwright, the well-known guidebook writer, preferred the shorter name Pike o’ Blisco. He called the longer form its ‘Sunday name’ and praised the mountain’s swashbuckling title. The fell’s slopes are made of volcanic sandstone, tuff and lapilli tuff, with a band of rhyolite cutting across the eastern side. Before 1959 a tall conical cairn stood on the summit, visible from the valley below. In 1958–59 the cairn was damaged and later rebuilt, though it is no longer as tall as it once was.

Red Tarn lies between Cold Pike and Pike o’ Blisco at 528 metres. Its clear shallow waters reveal a stony bed and hold trout. The tarn is fed by the River Duddon on one side and drains north to Great Langdale Beck on the other. A wide path from Wrynose Pass to Great Langdale runs beside the tarn, with another branch leading towards Crinkle Crags. The summit itself is guarded by Kettle Crag to the north and Black Wars to the west, while Black Crag leads down to Wrynose Pass. To the east, Blake Rigg at about 530 metres offers rocky outcrops and small tarns, and a narrow pass links the two Langdales beneath Blea Tarn.