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The Lake District - Northern Fells 1

The Lake District - Northern Fells 1


Postby Christo1979 » Sun Oct 28, 2018 10:39 pm

Wainwrights included on this walk: Latrigg, Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw, Skiddaw Little Man

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

Date walked: 24/10/2018

Time taken: 6

Distance: 18.2 km

Ascent: 1186m

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Following the strong winds last week, the forecasts were far from good across the board, but I was determined to get out into the hills no matter what. I’d spent so much time scouring the maps and trying to plan not-too-suicidal routes, and in the end opted to pop across to Keswick for two days and try to bag some more Wainwrights. Two trains and a bus later, I was in Keswick and set straight off to get the legs stretched on Latrigg. I followed the popular path so far up, but then turned sharp right on the slopes of Latrigg and took the steep track through the forest. Before long I emerged near the summit, and a very windy summit it was!

ImageWalking in The Lake District by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

ImageWalking in The Lake District by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Next up, the path across from Latrigg and on to the ‘tourist path’ up to Skiddaw. About half way up, I veered over to the smaller path which runs up to the source of Whit Beck, and on up to the fence which leads up to the summit of Lonscale Fell. The wind was really strong up here, and the mist was pretty thick so visibility was poor, but it’s an easy (if a little boggy) walk up to the cairn.

ImageWalking in The Lake District by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Retracing my steps back down to the Flag Pots on the map, I stayed with the fence and soon ascended Jenkin Hill, by which point the weather really turned. Well,actually it stayed the same - I suppose I was just encroaching on its territory and it wanted to remind me of what it could do :lol:

Still something of a novice hillwalker, I’ll be honest I was mildly terrified at the very strong wind that I leaned into on the way up to Skiddaw Little Man, and visibility was very poor. I didn’’t hang around long at the odd-shaped cairn, and continued up to the summit of Skiddaw. Very exhilarating stuff, but I soon realised my plans to walk over to Carl Side and continue to Ullock Pike etc were not going to work out. Neither of the paths were even visible, and though I initially started off down one of the paths towards Carl Side, I decided to turn around and rejoin the tourist path down from Skiddaw. Gutting, but wise, I thought.

ImageWalking in The Lake District by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

ImageWalking in The Lake District by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

ImageWalking in The Lake District by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Once down past Jenkin Hill once again, things calmed down and by the time I got near the gate towards the bottom of the Skiddaw path, I was able to sit and enjoy the view back across Derwentwater - the only view since leaving Latrigg, pretty much :lol: it was cold, but what a beautiful place to be.

ImageWalking in The Lake District by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

ImageWalking in The Lake District by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

I took the path around Latrigg and soon found myself back in Keswick, where a wander and a night at the YHA awaited. I’ve done plenty of walking in bad weather (walking and wild-camping the Hebridean Way in strong wind and constant rain for example), but this was the first time I’d been up a height in cold weather and strong wind. It was a little scary, but naturally I can’t wait for more :lol:
Last edited by Christo1979 on Tue Jan 01, 2019 2:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Christo1979
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Posts: 526
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Re: The Lake District - Northern Fells 1

Postby Sgurr » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:44 am

We've a friend who has moved to Australia from Keswick, and we once said "You are lucky just to be able to walk out of your front door and climb a mountain!" to which he replied, "As long as it's Skiddaw." Nothing wrong with that...we have to drive over an hour to get one.


That clag is THICK, or is it the cloud on your lens?
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Re: The Lake District - Northern Fells 1

Postby Christo1979 » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:16 pm

Sgurr wrote:We've a friend who has moved to Australia from Keswick, and we once said "You are lucky just to be able to walk out of your front door and climb a mountain!" to which he replied, "As long as it's Skiddaw." Nothing wrong with that...we have to drive over an hour to get one.


That clag is THICK, or is it the cloud on your lens?


I feel your pain, I don’t even drive and so every outing (I’m Newcastle-based) because an expedition ha ha. Thanks for the comment. Perhaps unbelievably, it really was that thick. The lens was clear (albeit briefly) and I really couldn’t see much in front of me. Even a ‘tourist path’ felt like an adventure :lol:
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Re: The Lake District - Northern Fells 1

Postby trailmasher » Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:52 pm

Damn decent walk there Christo :clap: and photos showing the elements of the day. Whit Beck is a good way to go, nice and direct 8) The paths down the south flank are quite difficult to find from the top and can be passed by quite easily without noticing them :? , although the first one leads directly from the south cairn and it's a shame that they're not marked on the OS Map. Well done for sticking it out in less than pleasant weather :clap:
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Re: The Lake District - Northern Fells 1

Postby Christo1979 » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:02 pm

trailmasher wrote:Damn decent walk there Christo :clap: and photos showing the elements of the day. Whit Beck is a good way to go, nice and direct 8) The paths down the south flank are quite difficult to find from the top and can be passed by quite easily without noticing them :? , although the first one leads directly from the south cairn and it's a shame that they're not marked on the OS Map. Well done for sticking it out in less than pleasant weather :clap:


Thanks! :) I was gutted to turn back, but as you say the paths aren’t necessarily easy to find. The following day I found real disrepancies between actual paths and those on the map, and spent a lot of time cutting through heather near Bleaberry Fell :lol:
Christo1979
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Re: The Lake District - Northern Fells 1

Postby Glengavel » Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:28 pm

We did Skiddaw about two weeks before you did in much the same weather. The wind would have blown the milk out of a cup of tea and you could see b-all. But the following day we did Cat Bells and High Spy in shirt-sleeves and sunglasses. Weather, eh?
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Re: The Lake District - Northern Fells 1

Postby Christo1979 » Sat Nov 03, 2018 4:31 pm

Glengavel wrote:We did Skiddaw about two weeks before you did in much the same weather. The wind would have blown the milk out of a cup of tea and you could see b-all. But the following day we did Cat Bells and High Spy in shirt-sleeves and sunglasses. Weather, eh?


'The wind would have blown the milk out of a cup of tea' - brilliant :lol: I went for a wander in the central fells the following day, really fancy Cat Bells and High Spy next time. Looks like a really attractive route!
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