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A lot of people who know a little about the Wainwrights always seem to regard poor old Skiddaw as a big boring lump of a hill, I must admit, I was of a similar mind, I'd been on Skiddaw on a couple of occasions and always from the car park below Jenkin Hill, when I was investigating alternatives I found this walk around Skiddaw's outliers and thought it would be nice to get away from the hussle and bussle of the main summits and still have a reasonable saunter around this really picturesque mountain.
So we decided to have a wander from Dodd Wood car park, along the Allerdale Ramble, and then over Ullock Pike, Long side, Carl Side and Dodd it'self.Today It was Denise and I and we were joined by our youngest son, Richard, who has been with us on walks in the past. We were hoping to find a lay by on the A591 but were unsuccessful so we had to take in a large gulp and pay the £6.10 for a day's parking at the tearoom's car park near Mirehouse (surely £3.00 would suffice judging by the number of cars in the car park when we got down)?
We set off through the woods on the path that runs alongside the road and in the general direction of the Ravenstone hotel where the path leads you uphill,
![a) Richard on the way to Watchstones.JPG]()
- Richard on the way up to Watchstones where you swing right and begin the climb up Ullock Pike
![b) View from higher up the Forest Path.jpg]()
- Views
turns right and then starts the climb upto Ullock Pike. This initial section is quite steep but the opening views take your mind off this, although today was very hazy we could see Grisedale Pike, Grasmoor,Crag Hill, Dalehead etc
![d) Hazy North western Fells.JPG]()
- Hazy view
as well as Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake, the Solway Firth was not that clear.
We got to the top of Ullock Pike after an hour and a quarter from the car park,
![c) Ullock Pike.JPG]()
- Denise on Ullock Pike
Skiddaw looked majestic,
![Cc) Towards Skiddaw from Ullock Pike.JPG]()
- Skiddaw from Ullock Pike
and the way ahead was plain to see.
Long Side was next and it took us 15 mins from Ullock Pike to arrive there.
![e) Summit of Long Side looking to Skiddaw.JPG]()
- Long Side and Skiddaw
Looking onto Skiddaw from the top of Long Side shows how big a mountain Skiddaw is, scree covered and a bit Munro like. We spent a bit of time here just looking and chatting, taking our time and enjoying the really pleasant weather conditions.
![f) Looking over to Carl Side from Long Side.JPG]()
- Views from Long Side, to Carl Side
![g) Ullock Pike from Long Side.JPG]()
- Ullock Pike from Long Side
![h) View into Southerndale from Long Side.JPG]()
- View in to Southerndale
![Hh) Steep slopes on Skiddaw.JPG]()
- Skiddaw
![Hhh) Pano of Skiddaw from Long Side.jpg]()
- Pano of Skiddaw from Long Side
Next was Carl Side which, from Long Side, is a steady, pleasant walk.
We had our lunch on Carl Side, looking at the views watching the people walking onto the summit of Skiddaw, there were a few folk on our side of the hill, but we were quiet compared to the summit.
![i) Denise on Carl Side with Little Man behind.JPG]()
- On Carl Side, Denise.
![j) Denise, Richard and Little Man from Carl Side.JPG]()
- Denise, Richard and Little Man from Carl Side.
![k) Denise and Richard with Skiddaw.JPG]()
- On Carl Side with Skiddaw behind
![l) Long Side appearing above Carl Side.JPG]()
- Long Side from Carl Side
![m) Skiddaw direct.JPG]()
- Skiddaw direct
After our sandwiches we set off for Dodd.
![n) Dodd from the slopes of Carl Side.JPG]()
- Dodd from the slopes of Carl Side
From Carl Side it's a fair old drop into the coll before the climb through the trees onto Dodds summit, this adds a bit of variety to the walk. From the coll to the summit is about 100m of height on well constructed paths and takes no time to get there and the scent of the trees and the flora makes this little climb worth it.
![v) Strange fungus in the woods on Dodd.JPG]()
- Good at parties, a "fungi" to be with.
On the top there's a memorial to two scout leaders and to others who appreciated this spot in their lives,
![q) Memorial on the summit of Dodd.JPG]()
- Memorial
and it is a lovely little hill and should be appreciated for the views it gives now that the trees have been felled around the top.
![o) Denise on Dodd.JPG]()
- Denise on Dodd
![p) Two chilled on Dodd.JPG]()
- Two chilled on Dodd
![r) Skiddaw.jpg]()
- Views
![t) People on Little Man seen from Dodd.JPG]()
- People on Little Man taken from Dodd
![u) Long Side from Dodd.JPG]()
- Long Side from Dodd
From here we retraced our steps down to the coll and then started the walk back to the car park. This is all on a forestry track and is easy going all the way back to the car using the Allerdale Ramble route.
We arrived back at the car park and were amazed at how many people there were in and around the tea room, a busy little place, but at least we got to see more than just what was on offer down here.
We enjoyed our day out, it was spent on the less frequented parts of Skiddaw, but Skiddaw is not a boring lump and we will visit again and explore a bit more of what it has to offer. A nice mountain, a Lakeland giant.
