Pike Expedition
On November 15, Pike recorded the first sight of the distant mountain he called "Grand Peak". It has since been called Pikes Peak in his honor. Pike tried to climb the peak, hoping to get a view of the surrounding area to record on maps, the 14,000-foot summit. Pike's group ascended a lesser summit nearby—likely Mount Miller, which was named for Theodore Miller, one of the soldiers who accompanied Pike. With winter threatening, Pike pressed onward up the Arkansas, and on December 7 the party reached Royal Gorge, a spectacular canyon on the Arkansas at the base of the Rocky Mountains.
High Pike
High Pike’s summit is of some interest, it is used as a beacon by the population of Caldbeck and a fire is lit to celebrate important events such as the Millennium and coronations. The summit also has a massive cairn which was originally a shepherds cottage and has become a ruin. There is a trig point which has been mounted with a plaque which says "“To Celebrate Caldbeck Parish’s Millennium Celebrations”", there is also a substantial wind shelter nearby which has also been built from the stones from the ruined cottage. However, the most unusual of High Pike’s summit fixtures is a slate bench which bears the inscription "“In memory of Mick Lewis who loved all these fells”", he died in 1944 aged 16 and a small add-on is in memory of his mother who died in 1970. Famous mountaineer Chris Bonington lives in nearby Caldbeck and is he is often to be seen walking his dog on High Pike, he told a local newspaper in May 2005