And finally... Skiddaw

Despite the broken bones in my shoulder and the inflamed tendons in my knee and the rain forecast this was a walk that was going to happen.

Difficulty: 5.7
Walkers: Tim, Caroline, Poppy (13), Piper (4)
10:20, 0.0km 0h00 0m, Start (291)
11:51, 4.5km 1h30 512m, Lonscale Fell (715, Hewitt, Wainwright)
12:36, 6.7km 2h15 721m, Skiddaw Little Man (865, Wainwright, Hewitt)
13:16, 8.3km 2h55 866m, Skiddaw (931, Wainwright, Hewitt)
14:08, 9.5km 3h47 909m, Carl Side (746, Wainwright, Hewitt)
16:31, 14.9km 6h11 1100m, End (307)

We parked at the Latrigg carpark, arriving just early enough to get a space on the road, about three cars from the carpark.  A little earlier would have been better, but that's close enough for me.

Cloud at around 500m meant a clear start, but this was about the last good view we got on the way up.  The path going up was very wide and well built, so fairly straightforward.  Given the rain forecast we inevitably passed some people who didn't look dressed for the conditions, and one lad who we met half way up who asked us which way to Skiddaw.   I really hope they all enjoyed their walks and were safe, although I try and leave less to chance. 

Lonscale Fell, standing at the Wainwright, looking back to the cairn, the views were astounding.  As we walked back we passed another family heading here, clearly bagging Wainwrights on a cloudy day.

Skiddaw Little Man.  Up uptil this point it hadn't actually been raining, although all the moisture from the cloud was condensing on us, so we were pretty soaked already.

However on the final ascent to Skiddaw it started to rain, and the last 500m along the ridge was pretty windy as well.   Still, I like to feel that it would have been a let down if it was warm with a good view.

We celebrated at the top with champagne - sorry for not bringing up the glasses, the table, the table cloth, chairs, etc.

The steep path down towards Carl Side was great - very steep, wet, and all slate scree, so progress was very slow.   For a change this week I did get to have Piper so that Caroline could concentrate on getting down the path.  I just made sure that she didn't pull me over, since landing on a broken shoulder wasn't in my plan for the day.  The final pay off was that it stopped raining and we got a view back - here's Carl Side on the left.

At the top of Carl Side, where we finished the champagne.

Heading further down the hill we got the occasional view over Derwent Water.

White Stones, where we stopped for a break to finish lunch before heading further down.

Down towards Millbeck, just before the zig zag path that Caroline swears we've been down before.

Aiming for the forest

Staying beyond Bassenthwaite made this quite an easy walk to get to.  We'd done the first three ages ago, although Poppy needed to tick them off, but none of us had done Dodd Skiddaw.

Difficulty: 4.9

Walkers: Tim, Caroline, Evie (14), Poppy (12), Piper

10:31, 0.0km 0h00 0m, Start (147)

12:00, 3.0km 1h29 675m, Ullock Pike (690, Wainwright)

12:23, 3.6km 1h51 754m, Long Side (734, Wainwright, Hewitt)

12:39, 4.4km 2h08 843m, Carl Side (746, Wainwright, Hewitt)

13:59, 6.9km 3h28 995m, Dodd Skiddaw (502, Wainwright)

15:45, 11.3km 5h14 1078m, End (153)

Not a great day, so the GoPro came out to save my phone from getting wet.  This is from Ullock Pike.

Similar view from Long Side

Carl Side

On the way down towards Bassenthwaite Lake

Saying hello to my family

Descending towards the forest.

Top of Dodd Skiddaw

We took a path marked on the map down, which turned out to be quite an intereting route.

Finding the roadway did mean slightly faster progress.

 

The day Evie didn't get to do Skiddaw

It dawned a lovely day, so I was keen to do quite an ambitious walk from the house.  I was thinking of going out with just Isabelle and Grace, but Caroline was adamant that we all should go along, and if Evie was struggling then she could always turn back with Caroline.  Of course, after we all set off it was all about Evie management - judging the right amount of knowledge about the future (motivation to climb mountains like her big sisters) and the the right amount of ignorance about the route (to the point of flat out denying that we were really heading up there).  We ended up getting back a bit late, but at least there wasn't a drive home and it really was a day well spent.

Difficulty: 5
Walkers: Tim, Caroline, Isabelle (10), Grace (8), Evie (5)
10:59, 0.0km 0h00 0m, Start (157)
14:13, 4.9km 3h13 561m, Ullock Pike (690)
14:34, 5.4km 3h35 617m, Long Side (734)
15:03, 6.2km 4h03 669m, Carl Side (746)
18:54, 14.5km 7h54 910m, End (157)

We set off from the house, a short amount of road walking, then off road paths until we reached the start of the fell proper.  Well, until the map changed colour at least.

Stopping for lunch, there wasn't much shelter, but the views make up for that.

Looking north, back the way we had come - up the ridge snaking off to the right.

Evie at the top of Ullock Pike, this walk mainly involved Evie repeatedly breaking her record for her highest Wainwright.

Isabelle, with the route to come up the ridge towards Long Side.

I did all the uphill with Poppy that day, a great way to slow me down to the pace of my children...

Evie at Long Side.  You can see the path up to Skiddaw over Evie's shoulder towards the top left, we watched many people have real problems getting either up or down on their feet, so decided that this wasn't going to be the day to do Skiddaw.  Very much the right decision.

The walk across to Carl Side.

Grace really wasn't keen on yet more photos, so the Carl Side cairn stands unloved.

There really was a path this way, going down in the direction of Derwent Water.  It was one of those paths that you only know you are on by looking back up the hill.

Quite stunning views across to Bassenthwaite.

We decided that trying to do Dodd Skiddaw on the same walk would really be a step too far, so we took the more direct route back north west through the forest.  Even Poppy got to do some walking.

Still, lots of time for songs in a rare outbreak of harmony amongst our children.  It most frequently happens once all of them actually believe that we're finally on the home stretch.