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Day 2 Of 5 - The Skiddaw 'Family'

Day 2 Of 5 - The Skiddaw 'Family'


Postby Ibex » Thu May 14, 2015 12:21 am

Wainwrights included on this walk: Carl Side, Dodd, Latrigg, Long Side, Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw, Skiddaw Little Man, Ullock Pike

Hewitts included on this walk: Long Side, Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw, Skiddaw Little Man

Date walked: 08/05/2015

Time taken: 6.25

Distance: 22.5 km

Ascent: 1175m

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Day 1 Report > http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=51938


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After having a night in a room alone in the hostel, I got up and ready to go to early and was well rested. I said goodbye to the group of Aussies doing the coast to coast and wished them well and got into the car a little bit excited as I was heading off to do a walk that I had wanted to do for years.

I shot off down Honister pass and through Keswick and headed for Applethwaite in the shadow of the Skiddaw group. I passed through Applethwaite and headed East until I had passed the Water works and parked in the little car park near Latrigg.
I had deliberately parked here as I wanted to do the on road walking at the start, as I hate walking roads after being on the Fells.

Image
Objectives from the car park

It was another gloriously sunny day, so I geared up and walked/jogged down the road through Applethwaite and Millbeck and headed up towards Dodd. Unfortunately I missed the path up through the forest (which I was quite looking forward to) and ended up walking up along the right hand side of the fence which hems in the Thornthwaite Forest. I did a little bit of walking in the forest, but couldn’t find much of a real path through it, so went for the safe option of along the fence.

Image
Southern view from Dodd road

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Summit marker on Dodd

It was very warm and relatively steep, so was sweating and breathing hard pretty early. I got to Long Doors and got on the road system up Dodd and made the top after an hour and a half. Not bad considering I had covered around 6km.
I was on a bit of a roll, so just kept going. I trudged up the path to above White Stones and then onto the summit of Carl Side. I stopped here for the first time and pilled some food and water down. I then headed left and over the shapely peak of Long Side and onto Ullock Pike, which was my fiftieth Wainwright.

Image
Skiddaw Little Man from Carl Side

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Ullock Pike from Long Side

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Dodd and North Western Fells

Image
Long Side looking back from Ullock Pike

I returned back along the ridge and then headed up the steep and lose slope. This slope seemed to somehow getting steeper the further up I went. After reaching near the top, I watched two nutters on mountain bikes go hurtling down the same slope. Brave is an understatement. I had also seen a large group of mountain bikers earlier in the day, go shooting over Long Side and down the Ullock Pike slope.

Image
Steep final climb to Skiddaw from col

I got to the top of Skiddaw and admired the views. I took a few quick snaps of the trig point and then shot off towards Little Man. Mainly this was because it had got quite overcast and a bit windy, so was pretty cold.

Image
Skiddaw column top

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Little man on right and Lonscale Fell on left

I headed down the South end of Skiddaw and down to the little Col, then followed the fence up to the top of Little Man. After a small drop to another interesting cairn, I headed down Jenkin Hill and took a direct line towards Lonscale Fell, along the fence line again. The path was pretty vague, so the fence would be a god send in poor visibility.

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Interesting cairn on lower summit of Little Man with path to Lonscale Fell in distance

I made the summit of Lonscale Fell and headed South, once more following the fence down, with Blencathra’s Blease Fell to my left. After approximately 300m of descent I came across a much clearer path running perpendicular to the descent route. This turned out to be the Cumbria way, which I followed West and followed all the way back to the car park.
There was a nice view of Whit Beck as it tumbled down the South of the Fell.

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Latrigg from Cumbria way - Final destination

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Whit Beck

I quickly dumped my pack in the car and sat in the warmth for a minute. My will to climb Latrigg was quickly receding so I jumped out the car and within ten minutes was on the summit of Latrigg. Just as I got there it started to rain, so I headed back to the car and was very glad to pull the boots of my aching feet. Great day in the hills, doing a walk I’ve been planning for years. Did it a fair bit quicker than I thought I would too.

Image
Looking back from Latrigg
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Ibex
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Posts: 473
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Re: Day 2 Of 5 - The Skiddaw 'Family'

Postby Alteknacker » Thu May 14, 2015 8:20 pm

Some great pics there, Ibex. :clap: This is bunch of hills that I've never much fancied because they didn't seem very interesting, but I can see that isn't the case at all. Thanks for this.
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Alteknacker
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Re: Day 2 Of 5 - The Skiddaw 'Family'

Postby Ibex » Thu May 14, 2015 9:15 pm

Admittedly they aren''t the most interesting, but there are some great views South from the tops.
Its definitely worth the walk.

I missed the path through the forest on Dodd too, so that should be worth seeing as well.
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Ibex
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Re: Day 2 Of 5 - The Skiddaw 'Family'

Postby AJNicholls » Fri May 15, 2015 6:03 pm

Congratulations on the big 50 dude. Think mine was High Rigg. Good pics too. Shame you couldn't bag Bakestall alongside this, but that's plenty of peaks anyway!
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AJNicholls
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Re: Day 2 Of 5 - The Skiddaw 'Family'

Postby johnkaysleftleg » Fri May 15, 2015 10:15 pm

Well done on passing 50 :clap: that route up Skiddaw is certainly steep, can't imagine going down it on a mountain bike :shock:
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johnkaysleftleg
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Location: County Durham

Re: Day 2 Of 5 - The Skiddaw 'Family'

Postby nigheandonn » Sat May 16, 2015 5:52 pm

Is that the whole family portrait? Some nice hills - the ridge is more exciting looking than I expected!
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nigheandonn
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Re: Day 2 Of 5 - The Skiddaw 'Family'

Postby Ibex » Sun May 17, 2015 8:12 am

I'm pretty sure you need to be a little mentally unhinged to ride a bike down that slope. Its not just the steepness, but also the fact that it is all loose slate too. Each to their own though.

nigheanddon - Yep its the whole 'familly'. In hindsight I had time to do Bakestall as well, but that is a lot of reascent for what I was calling Skiddaw's illegitimate child and out of the photo, hidden in the back. :lol:
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Ibex
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Posts: 473
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